Minnesota, 2002

Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, April 16, 2002

April 16, 2002 · NWS FGF · 4 events in 3 counties and zones

2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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
$500
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
4

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 Apr 16, 7:20 PM CST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 7:20 PM CST, 0 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
820 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002

01Z...SFC LOW JUST NORTH OF HALLOCK MN.  MAIN COLD FRONT LOCATED
WEST OF GRAND FORKS TO NEAR ABERDEEN...WITH TROUGH AHEAD OF FRONT
(DRY LINE) LOCATED FROM EAST OF HALLOCK TO NEAR CROOKSTON TO
MOORHEAD.  TSRA DEVELOPING ALONG LINE FROM WCNTRL MN (FERGUS FALLS)
INTO NW IA...WITH MOVEMENT NNE.  ERN CWFA STILL UNDER THE GUN FOR
HAILERS THIS EVENING...BUT WRN END OF WATCH THAT INCLUDES ERN ND
WILL BE CANCELLED EARLY AS THREAT FOR TSRA HAS ENDED.

AREA OF LOWER CLOUDS...FOG AND DRIZZLE OVER FAR NW CWFA (DVL REGION)
AND THIS AREA WILL GENERALLLY SLIDE NORTH-NORTHEAST...BUT WILL NEED
TO WATCH TO SEE HOW FAR EAST THIS ADVANCES. OTHERWISE BIS/MBX RADAR
SHOWS LIMITED PCPN AS SYSTEM AS MAIN WRAPAROUND PCPN AS PUSHED INTO
CANADA.

.FGF...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA UNTIL MIDNIGHT.

RIDDLE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 16, 2:45 PM CST, 4 hours 35 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-170900-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
345 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...

SYNOPSIS...SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE PUMPING WARM AND MOIST
UNSTABLE AIR INTO THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. A WARM FRONT DRAPED
FROM VALLEY CITY TO GRAND FORKS TO BAUDETTE WILL CONTINUE MOVING
NORTHWARD. WARM AIR ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO ERODE THIS AFTERNOON
ALLOWING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE...TO DEVELOP
ACROSS THE AREA.

AREA OF CONCERN...A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS
EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY FROM THE RED RIVER VALLEY EAST INTO MINNESOTA.

TIME...START AFTER 4 PM AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

TYPE OF HAZARD...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE MAIN THREATS.
AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE SURFACE
WARM FRONT.

BRIDENSTINE

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 152 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Otter Tail

When
April 16, 7:20 PM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, 3 mi N of Elizabeth
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.433, -96.133

Hail, Hubbard

When
April 16, 8:40 PM CST
Where
Hubbard County, 1 mi S of Laporte
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.200, -94.767

Thunderstorm Wind, Hubbard

When
April 16, 8:40 PM CST
Where
Hubbard County, 1 mi S of Laporte
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.200, -94.767

Thunderstorm Wind, Lake of the Woods

When
April 16, 10:00 PM CST
Where
Lake of the Woods County, Baudette
Property damage
$500
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.717, -94.600

Tree limbs were blown down.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 2002

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: 5285483, 5285484, 5285485, 5285562.