Minnesota, 2001

Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 30, 2001

July 30, 2001 · NWS FGF · 12 events in 6 counties and zones

7 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 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
$78,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

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 30, 1:50 AM CST, 7 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 1:50 AM CST, 7 hours 30 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
250 AM CDT MON JUL 30 2001

FORECAST CONCERNS THIS PACKAGE DEAL WITH MORNING DENSE FOG AND HEAVY
RAIN OR SEVERE POTENTIAL TODAY THRU TUE NIGHT. 06Z SFC MAP SHOWS
WEAK SFC LOW ACROSS SOUTHEAST ND WITH TROUGH EXTENDING NORTH TOWARD
KHCO. HIGH PRESSURE WEST OF THE VALLEY INTO EASTERN MT. ALL MODELS
SIMILAR AT 500 MB SHOWING SOUTHWEST FLOW STARTING TO SHARPEN WITH
THE ADVANCE OF THE NEXT TROUGH INTO THE ROCKIES. NUMEROUS SHORT
WAVES EJECTED AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS OVER
THE NEXT 48 HOURS. DIFFERENCES SHOWING UP IN QPF PATTERNS OF THE
MODELS...AVN BEST MATCH WITH CURRENT QPF. ETA WETTEST OF THE
THREE...SO WENT WITH A COMPROMISE.

SFC FEATURES HARD TO PICK OUT AS TROUGH BOUNDARY REACHED THE VALLEY
AND HAS NEARLY STALLED. VISIBILITIES HAVE BEEN UP AND DOWN FROM KGFK
TO KHCO...SO WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND NOT ISSUE AN ADVISORY. ETA
SHOWS THE TROUGH REFORMING TODAY OVER CENTRAL ND AND LEANING TO THE
EAST BY LATE AFTERNOON. EXPECT FOG TO LIFT INTO LOW CLOUDS SIMILAR
TO SUNDAY...BREAKING UP A BIT BY AFTERNOON TO ALLOW SOME HEATING. BY
18Z BEST 700 MB LIFT AND 850-700 MB Q VECTOR CONVERGENCE ALONG THE
VALLEY AND EAST. CAPES NEARLY 4000 J/KG ALONG SFC BOUNDARY...WHERE
LI'S DROP BELOW -8. RIBBON OF 70 DEW POINTS ALONG THE VALLEY ALSO
FOCUS BACK ALONG THE SFC BOUNDARY. BEST UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS NORTH
OF THE CANADIAN BORDER...BUT BOTH AVN AND ETA HAVE A WEAK WAVE
MOVING THROUGH. 850 MB WARM FRONT ALSO LOOKS TO HANG UP ALONG THE
NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER. SO WILL KEEP WITH INHERITED ZONES
CALLING FOR A BETTER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ACROSS SOUTHERN
AREAS. FWC STILL RUNNING WARMER THAN MAV SO WITH MORE CLOUDS WILL
LEAN COOLER.

TONIGHT ETA AND AVN DIVERGE ON QPF FIELDS WITH AVN FIELDS FURTHER
NORTH THAN THE ETA. WILL KEEP A LOW POP TO ACCOUNT FOR SOME REMNANT
CONVECTION. ETA SFC LOW PLACEMENT BY 12Z TUE OVER SOUTHWEST SD WITH
AVN SOUTH OF KBIS. EITHER WAY ANOTHER SFC BOUNDARY MOVES THROUGH THE
AREA TUE INTO TUE NIGHT WITH HEAVY RAINS EXPECTED. ETA PRECIPITABLE
WATER VALUES RISE TO OVER 2 INCHES. UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT MUCH BETTER
THIS TIME AROUND WITH THE STRONGER WAVE. ETA SOUNDING FOR KFAR SHOWS
NEARLY UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW 00Z WED WITH VERY MOIST LAYER...SO HEAVY
RAIN MAY BE A BIGGER THREAT THAN SEVERE WEATHER.

NO CHANGES PLANNED FOR THE EXTENDED.

.FGF...NONE.

GODON

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 30, 6:06 AM CST, 3 hours 14 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-301400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
706 AM CDT MON JUL 30 2001

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS EVENING INTO EARLY
TUESDAY...

SYNOPSIS...MOIST UNSTABLE AIR REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS THE RED RIVER
VALLEY INTO NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...THIS MOIST
UNSTABLE AIR WILL BEGIN TO WORK ITS WAY BACK TO THE WEST. A FRONTAL
BOUNDARY WILL ALSO REFORM ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA DURING THE
DAY TODAY. TEMPERATURES WILL ONCE AGAIN WARM NICELY BY AFTERNOON...
HELPING TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUEL FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.

AREA OF CONCERN...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED
ACROSS ALL OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

TIME...GREATEST RISK IS EXPECTED AFTER 9 PM CONTINUING INTO THE
EARLY MORNING HOURS.

TYPE OF HAZARD...HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT ALTHOUGH SOME
LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

GODON
Local storm report, Jul 30, 7:45 AM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
845 AM CDT MON JUL 30 2001

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

0745 AM    4 NE CRETE                ND   1 INCH HAIL
07/30/01   SARGENT

0750 AM    ENGLEVALE                 ND   .75 INCH HAIL
07/30/01   RANSOM

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Clay

When
July 30, 9:20 AM CST
Where
Clay County, 1 mi S of Georgetown
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.067, -96.817

Hail, Clay

When
July 30, 9:34 AM CST to 9:37 AM CST
Where
Clay County, 5 mi W of Felton
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.083, -96.617

Hail, Polk

When
July 30, 10:24 AM CST
Where
Polk County, East Grand Forks
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.933, -97.017

Hail, Becker

When
July 30, 10:30 AM CST
Where
Becker County, Shoreham
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.750, -95.900

Hail, Otter Tail

When
July 30, 10:50 AM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, 2 mi SE of Carlisle
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.350, -96.150

Hail, Becker

When
July 30, 10:56 AM CST
Where
Becker County, 4 mi SE of Detroit Lakes
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.783, -95.767

Lightning, Becker

When
July 30, 10:56 AM CST
Where
Becker County, Detroit Lakes
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
46.935, -95.674 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning hit a major downtown power substation, knocking out power for two-thirds of the city.

Thunderstorm Wind, Becker

When
July 30, 10:56 AM CST
Where
Becker County, Detroit Lakes
Property damage
$20,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
46.817, -95.833

Strong winds knocked tree branches onto powerlines and blew over a portable greenhouse. A metal roof was torn off a building.

Thunderstorm Wind, Becker

When
July 30, 10:56 AM CST
Where
Becker County, 2 mi S of Detroit Lakes
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
46.783, -95.833

Strong winds hit the Soo Pass Ranch, which was preparing for its country music festival. Three travel trailers were flipped over, one completely wrecked. Signs, fence posts, and a booth were damaged. One tree fell on a large camper. Two boats were flipper over.

Thunderstorm Wind, Wadena

When
July 30, 11:12 AM CST
Where
Wadena County, Sebeka
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.633, -95.100

Trees were blown down in Sebeka.

Thunderstorm Wind, Wadena

When
July 30, 11:30 AM CST
Where
Wadena County, 2 mi NE of Nimrod
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.650, -94.833

Several trees were blown down.

Hail, Red Lake

When
July 30, 11:38 AM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 4 mi N of Red Lake Falls
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.933, -96.267

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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: 5260100, 5260101, 5260102, 5260103, 5260104, 5260105, 5260109, 5260110, 5260111, 5260106, 5260107, 5260108.