Minnesota, 2002

Hail and Lightning Strike in Minnesota, April 18, 2002

April 18, 2002 · NWS FGF · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

2 hail, 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
$5,000
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 Apr 17, 7:25 PM CST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 7:25 PM CST, 5 hours 35 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
825 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

FCST CHALLENGE...RAIN/TSTM THREAT LATE TONIGHT.

INGREDIENTS COMING TOGETHER FOR SOLID PCPN EVENT FOR MUCH OF CWFA
LATE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY...SPCLY SRN 2/3 OF CWFA.

SFC LOW PULLING OUT OF WYOMING INTO NEBRASKA PANHANDLE.  WARM
ADVECTION IN THE 600-700 MB LAYER INCREASING OVER SRN CWFA CAUSING
MID CLDS TO FORM.  COOLING CLOUD TOPS ON NORTHSIDE OF LOW OVER NE WY
INTO SW ND ASSOC WITH RAIN.  AS THIS LOW PULLS NORTHEAST INTO SRN SD
OVERNIGHT RAIN WILL SPREAD ENE THRU CNTRL INTO ERN ND...WITH AXIS NR
A BIS-GFK LINE.  INITIALLY VERY DRY AT THE SFC...BUT SATURATION WILL
OCCUR FAIRLY QUICKLY GIVEN STRENGTH OF WARM/MOIST ADVECTION AT 700MB
AND Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE.

ALSO A PLAYER IN THIS IS THE ROLE OF ELEVATED COVECTION.  85H
WARM/MOIST ADVECTION WILL SPREADY QUICKLY NORTH INTO ERN SD/SRN MN
OVERNIGHT...WITH VERY TIGHT 85H INSTABILITY GRADIENT OVER FAR SRN
CWFA. MESO ETA SOUNDINGS CENTERED OVER GRANT COUNTY MN SHOW CLASSIC
ELEVATED CONVECTION SCENERIO WITH MOIST/ELEVATED INSTABILITY LAYER
LOWERING FROM NR 700MB AT 06Z TO 850MB BY 12Z.  IMPRESSIVE 70H-85H
JET (60KT) AS WELL IN THE 09Z-12Z TIME FRAME...WITH ORIENTATION MORE
FAVORABLE FOR TSRA THAN TUESDAY AM. FROM LOCAL STUDIES...EXTREME
GRADIENTS PRESENT IN MOISTURE/INSTABILTY AND TEMP SUCH AS THOSE
PROGGED SUGGEST STRONG LIKLIHOOD OF ELEVATED TSRA. JUST LOOKED AT
SWODY1...FAR SE ND AND WCNTRL MN NOW IN SLIGHT RISK...WITH THUNDER
THREAT UP TO JUST SOUTH OF GFK.  WILL CONSIDER ADDING SVR WORDING TO
FAR SRN CWFA...AND PUTTING THUNDER FARTHER NORTH.

WILL ISSUE SPS/HWO TO HIGHLIGHT SVR THREAT OVERNIGHT FOR FAR SRN
CWFA.

.FGF...NONE.

RIDDLE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 17, 7:35 PM CST, 5 hours 25 minutes before
MNZ003-024-027>032-040-NDZ038-039-049-052-053-180900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
835 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE FOR EXTREME SOUTHEAST
NORTH DAKOTA AND PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE TONIGHT...

SYNOPSIS...LOW PRESURE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA
OVERNIGHT. A WARM FRONT WILL LIFT NORTH INTO EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA
AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY THURSDAY MORNING.  WARM...MOIST AND
UNSTABLE AIR WILL RIDE OVER THE FRONT AND CAUSE SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP.

AREA OF CONCERN...SLIGHT RISK SOUTH OF A VALLEY CITY TO FARGO TO
PARK RAPIDS LINE.

TIME...1 AM UNTIL 6 AM CDT.

TYPE OF HAZARD...HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER IN ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS.

RIDDLE

NNNN

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 204 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Grant

When
April 18, 1:00 AM CST
Where
Grant County, 2 mi SE of Barrett
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
45.900, -95.867

Hail, Otter Tail

When
April 18, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, 3 mi E of Urbank
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.133, -95.450

Lightning, Otter Tail

When
April 18, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, Fergus Falls
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
46.409, -95.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning struck a power pole and started a fire. This knocked out electrical service to a portion of Fergus Falls.

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.

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: 5285563, 5285564, 5285565.