Hail in North Dakota, May 15, 2001

Name: Hail in North Dakota, May 15, 2001
Start: 2001-05-15T13:05
End: 2001-05-15T14:13
Location: North Dakota

May 15, 2001 · NWS FGF · 6 events in 1 county or zone

6 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: 1
Property damage: $10 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 May 15, 9:27 AM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 9:27 AM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1027 AM CDT TUE MAY 15 2001

TSTMS MOVING THRU PORTIONS OF DVL REGION LATE THIS AM IN ASSOCIATION
WITH AREA OF DECENT SFC CONVERGENCE ALONG OCCLUDED FRONT EXTENDING
FROM TRIPLE POINT OVER S CENTRAL ND INTO SFC LOW OVER E CENTRAL
SASKATCHEWAN. THIS FORCING ENOUGH TO OVERCOME LIMITED MOISTURE ABOVE
THE BOUNDARY LAYER...WITH BEST MOISTURE AT 850 DEPICTED BY UPPER AIR
ANALYSIS OVER NE MN INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST. DRIEST CONDITIONS OVER
THE SRN ZONES PER UPPER AIR CHARTS...AND THIS REFLECTED WELL BY
MESOETA WHICH PLACES LOWEST SHOWALTER INDEX NUMBERS OVER THE NRN RED
RIVER VALLEY BY 18Z. WHILE LOWEST LI/S DEPICTED OVER THE SRN
VALLEY...STILL TOO WARM AT 7H IN THIS AREA UNTIL LATE AFTN WHEN COOL
FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE W. THUS BEST CHC FOR TSTMS TO BE OVER THE
NRN ZONES ALONG OCCLUDED BOUNDARY THIS AFTN...WHICH IS HANDLED WELL
BY ONGOING FORECASTS. NO CHANGES NEEDED IN THIS REGARD.

WHILE LOW CLOUDS RAPIDLY ERODING OVER THE E...INCREASING MID/HIGH
CLOUDS TO LIMIT INSOLATION...AS WELL AS SOME COOLING NOTED AT 850 MB
DURING THE AFTN. WlL NEED TO TRIM BACK TEMPS A LITTLE. NO OTHER BIG
CHANGES PLANNED WITH THIS UPDATE.

.FGF...NONE.

RJT

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 15, 12:11 PM CST, 54 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-152000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
111 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 2001

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS OVER NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FROM THE
RED RIVER AND EAST...

SYNOPSIS...AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS COMBINED WITH INCREASING LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA IS
SETTING THE STAGE FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON. ALL
OF THIS MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY IS POOLING AHEAD OF A LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND A WARM FRONT
EXTENDING FROM THE LOW ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

AREA OF CONCERN...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST
ALONG AND EAST OF THE RED RIVER.

TIME...START AROUND 3 PM AND WILL DIMINISH BY 10 PM.

TYPE OF HAZARD...THE GREATEST THREAT IS LARGE HAIL...ALONG WITH
DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS OVER THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA. THERE IS
ALSO A VERY SLIGHT RISK OF A TORNADO ALONG AND NORTH OF THE WARM
FRONT IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

BRAZZELL

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Grand Forks

When: May 15, 1:05 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, 2 mi N of Inkster
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 48.183, -97.650

Hail, Grand Forks

When: May 15, 1:59 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, 6 mi S of Grand Forks
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.833, -97.050

Hail, Grand Forks

When: May 15, 2:05 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, 6 mi S of Grand Forks
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.833, -97.050

Hail, Grand Forks

When: May 15, 2:05 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, Grand Forks
Measured: 2 in hail
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $10 million
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.917, -97.050

A male was hit in the head by a hailstone and required four stitches. Many homes and cars were damaged by the large hail, especially south of 32nd avenue south.

Hail, Grand Forks

When: May 15, 2:07 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, Grand Forks
Measured: 2.25 in hail
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 47.917, -97.050

Hail, Grand Forks

When: May 15, 2:13 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, Grand Forks
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.917, -97.050

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

Every storm in North Dakota in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Dakota, May 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: 5250358, 5250359, 5250360, 5250363, 5250361, 5250362.