Minnesota, 2001

Flash Flood and Hail in Minnesota, July 16, 2001

July 16, 2001 · NWS FGF · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 16, 7:20 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 7:20 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
820 PM CDT MON JUL 16 2001

WEAK SFC LOW JUST WEST OF BIS AT 00Z...WITH QUASISTATIONARY WARM
FRONT EXTENDING NORTHEAST TO AROUND FGN. DEWPOINTS AROUND 70F ACROSS
ENTIRE FA...WITH BEST SFC MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE ALONG FRONT.
CAPES RUNNING FROM 1500-2500 ACROSS FA AS WELL. ELEVATED CONVECTION
ON NOSE OF 30KT JET CONTINUES TO RIDE INTO NORTHEAST FA. AREA OF
CONCERN WILL BE EXTREME NORTHEAST ND INTO NORTHERN MN OVERNIGHT FOR
FLASH FLOODING CONCERNS. EVEN WITH FFG GUIDANCE OF 1.5-2.5 INCHES
PER HOUR NEEDED FOR FLASH FLOODING...THREE HOUR VALUES AROUND 3
INCHES MAY BE REACHABLE. FEEL BEST CHANCE WILL BE ALONG
QUASISTATIONARY WARMFRONT...WHERE PRECIPITABLE WATERS AROUND 1.70
INCHES. CONVECTION SHOULD DIE DOWN SHORTLY AFTER 06Z FROM VALLEY
EAST AS LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE MOVES IN...AND 850MB FLOW TURNS
WESTERLY ALLOWING UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW. FEEL AREAL THREAT IS TOO
SMALL FOR A FFA THOUGH...SO WILL NOT ISSUE ONE FOR NOW BUT MONITOR
CLOSELY. A FEW SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE AS WELL UNTIL 03Z...WITH BIGGEST
THREAT FROM BRIEF GUSTY WINDS/LARGE HAIL. FURTHER SOUTH...EXTREMELY
UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT WITH CAPES TO 3500 ARE PRESENT...BUT SFC
CONVERGENCE IS LIMITED. WILL LEAVE IN A LOW EVENING POP THREAT
HERE...WITH SWOMCD OUT FOR SE ND STATING ANY STORMS WHICH DO DEVELOP
WOULD BECOME RAPIDLY SEVERE.

.FGF...NONE.

KELLENBENZ

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 16, 5:29 PM CST, 3 hours 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
629 PM CDT MON JUL 16 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0525 PM    GRAND FORKS AFB           ND   .75 INCH HAIL
07/16/01   GRAND FORKS

0525 PM    GRAND FORKS AFB           ND   68 MPH TSTM GUST
07/16/01   GRAND FORKS

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Kittson

When
July 16, 8:50 PM CST
Where
Kittson County, 5 mi E of Donaldson
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.583, -96.783

Flash Flood, Kittson

When
July 16, 10:00 PM CST
Where
Kittson County, 5 mi E of Donaldson
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.777, -96.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four inches of rain in 45 minutes caused water to overflow a dike into a field.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, July 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: 5259015, 5259016.