Flash Flooding in North Dakota, July 27, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding in North Dakota, July 27, 2001
Start: 2001-07-27T09:50
End: 2001-07-27T13:52
Location: North Dakota

July 27, 2001 · NWS FGF · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 3

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 27, 8:55 AM CST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 8:55 AM CST, 55 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
955 AM CDT FRI JUL 27 2001

CONCERN FOR THE MORNING UPDATE CONTINUES TO BE THE THREAT OF HEAVY
RAIN ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. MOST PCPN FELL OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE
NORTHERN END OF THE KDVL BASIN...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE CANADIAN
BORDER. COOP STATION AT HANSBORO CAME IN WITH 2.56 INCHES OF RAIN IN
THE PAST 24 HOURS. CONCERN HAS EXPANDED A BIT FURTHER EAST THIS
MORNING...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE RED RIVER VALLEY. CURRENT SFC MAP
SHOWS LOW PRESSURE OVER CENTRAL SD WITH INVERTED TROUGH EXTENDING
NORTH INTO CENTRAL ND. KMVX 88D SHOWING CONTINUOUS PCPN FROM KGFK TO
VALLEY CITY TO OAKES...THEN EXTENDING BACK INTO NORTHEAST SD. WATER
VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWING ONE VORT OVER CENTRAL ND THIS MORNING WITH A
SECONDARY VORT IN EASTERN MT.

12Z ETA SHOWS THIS SECONDARY VORT MOVING EAST THIS AFTERNOON...
CATCHING UP THE MAIN VORT AND KEEPING PLENTY OF UPPER LIFT ACROSS
THE VALLEY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. INVERTED TROUGH INCHES SLOWLY
EASTWARD TODAY WITH MID 60 DEW POINTS POOLING ALONG IT. KABR 12Z
SOUNDING SHOWS PRECIPITABLE WATER AT 1.74 INCHES AND FAIRLY
UNIDIRECTIONAL FLOW UP TO 500 MB. NEARLY SATURATED SOUNDING AS WELL
UP TO 700 MB. PLENTY OF CONVECTIVE BEBRIS WILL HELP HOLD TEMPS DOWN
THIS AFTERNOON AND HELP LIMIT SEVERE POTENTIAL. WILL TRIM TEMPS BACK
A BIT ACROSS THE NORTH. 12Z ETA SHOWS HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL MAY
CONTINUE INTO THE EARLY EVENING...BUT WILL WAIT UNTIL ALL MODELS
COME IN BEFORE CHANGING CURRENT WATCH.

.FGF...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND
THE RED RIVER VALLEY OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MINNESOTA.

GODON

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 27, 5:08 AM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-271600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
600 AM CDT FRI JUL 27  2001

...A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ACROSS EASTERN
NORTH DAKOTA... NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

SYNOPSIS...A SLOW MOVING TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS MORNING.
MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO FILTER INTO THE REGION SUSTAINING
ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPMENT INTO THE AFTERNOON. THE TROUGH
OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN MINNESOTA BY LATE AFTERNOON.

AREA OF CONCERN...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SCATTERED SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION ALONG WITH A THREAT OF LOCALIZED
FLOODING AS TODAYS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE A HIGH RISK OF PRODUCING VERY
HEAVY RAIN. THE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY PRECIPITATION WILL FIRST END
OVER THE DEVILS LAKE REGION BY EARLY AFTERNOON AS THE LOW PRESSURE
TROUGH MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE EAST OF THE
RED RIVER BY THIS EVENING.

TIME...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME NUMEROUS THROUGH THE MORNING AND
CONTINUE INTO THE AFTERNOON.

TYPE OF HAZARD...DAMAGING WIND AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL ARE THE MAIN
THREAT. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

KENNEDY

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:49 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Grand Forks

When: July 27, 9:50 AM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, Grand Forks
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.922, -97.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Street flooding was reported in Grand Forks.

Flash Flood, Eddy

When: July 27, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Eddy County, 17 mi SW of Hamar
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.718, -98.902 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water was reported over a county road.

Flash Flood, Nelson

When: July 27, 1:52 PM CST
Where: Nelson County, 11 mi S of Lakota
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.922, -98.192 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Water was reported over highway 1.

What these are

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

Every storm in North Dakota in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Dakota, 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: 5259983, 5259984, 5259985.