Minnesota, 2001

Hail in Minnesota, August 17, 2001

August 17, 2001 · NWS MPX · 15 events in 11 counties and zones

15 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$40,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
15

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 17, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 2:15 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
315 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 2001

VISIBLE SATELLITE INDICATES ALTOCUMULUS INCREASING INTO CENTRAL
MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THE ETA MODEL SHOWS THIS
INSTABILITY INCREASING INTO TONIGHT ALLOWING FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY
WARNING AREA AND TRAVEL SOUTHEASTERLY INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
LATER. THE MESOETA HAS 1000 JOULES OF CAPE BEGINNING TO SINK DOWN
OVER TODD...MORRISON...STEVENS AND MILLE LACS COUNTIES FOR THIS
EVENING. THE MESOETA AT 21Z SHOWS 0.88 OF PRECIPITABLE WATER AND
THEN INCREASES TO 1.4 AT 06Z OVER SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA. ETA MODEL
FORECASTS BOUNDARY LAYER CONVERGENCE TO INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY IN
THE VICINITY OF THE COLD FRONT AFTER 00Z ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA.
INSTABILITY...AVAILABLE MOISTURE...AND IMPLIED LIFT SUGGEST THAT
CONVECTION IS LIKELY FOR TONIGHT.

THE COLD CORE ALOFT PASSES MAINLY EAST AND SOUTH OF THE TWIN CITIES
METRO AREA THUS KEEPING MOST OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA CLOUDY AND
COOLER. MODELS KEEPING WINDS EASTERLY AND INDICATE A FAIR AMOUNT OF
BOUNDARY LEVEL MOISTURE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS
SHOULD HAVE A MODIFYING EFFECT ON TEMPERATURES.

.MSP...NONE.
 WH/NORDIN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 171 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Chippewa

When
August 17, 4:50 PM CST
Where
Chippewa County, 9 mi N of Montevideo
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
45.083, -95.717

Hail chipped and dented buildings and vehicles.

Hail, Renville

When
August 17, 5:20 PM CST
Where
Renville County, 4 mi N of Minnesota Falls
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.850, -95.467

Hail, Chippewa

When
August 17, 5:20 PM CST
Where
Chippewa County, Asbury
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.883, -95.533

Hail, Yellow Medicine

When
August 17, 5:30 PM CST
Where
Yellow Medicine County, 5 mi S of Wood Lake
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.583, -95.550

Hail, Douglas

When
August 17, 5:35 PM CST
Where
Douglas County, 4 mi NW of Evansville
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
46.033, -95.750

Hail, Todd

When
August 17, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Todd County, Clarissa
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
46.133, -94.950

Hail, Redwood

When
August 17, 6:15 PM CST to 6:25 PM CST
Where
Redwood County, Belview
Measured
2.75 in hail
Property damage
$25,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
44.600, -95.333

Numerous vehicles dented. Hail ripped through a few tin buildings.

Hail, Renville

When
August 17, 6:35 PM CST
Where
Renville County, Bechyn
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
44.650, -95.083

Hail, Todd

When
August 17, 6:40 PM CST
Where
Todd County, Grey Eagle
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
45.817, -94.767

Hail, Pope

When
August 17, 6:56 PM CST
Where
Pope County, 3 mi N of Sedan
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.633, -95.250

Hail, Morrison

When
August 17, 7:10 PM CST
Where
Morrison County, Flensburg
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
45.950, -94.533

Hail, Kandiyohi

When
August 17, 7:26 PM CST
Where
Kandiyohi County, New London
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.300, -94.950

Hail, Stearns

When
August 17, 7:35 PM CST
Where
Stearns County, Sartell
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.617, -94.200

Hail, Brown

When
August 17, 7:57 PM CST
Where
Brown County, Springfield
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.250, -94.967

Hail, Stearns

When
August 17, 8:04 PM CST
Where
Stearns County, Richmond
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.450, -94.533

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5267078, 5267155, 5267156, 5267157, 5267158, 5267159, 5267160, 5267161, 5264273, 5264274, 5264275, 5264276, 5264277, 5264278, 5264279.