Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, August 16, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, August 16, 2002
Start: 2002-08-16T20:30
End: 2002-08-16T21:57
Location: Minnesota

August 16, 2002 · NWS FGF · 7 events in 6 counties and zones

4 thunderstorm wind, 3 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: 0
Property damage: $1,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 Aug 16, 7:45 PM CST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 7:45 PM CST, 45 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
845 PM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002

TWO CHALLENGES REMAIN FOR THIS EVENING...FIRST IS CONVECTION AND THE
SECOND IS WIND. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE FA UNTIL MIDNIGHT. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS
THE BEST THREAT MAY BE SHIFTING FURTHER SOUTH...WITH MORE WIDESPREAD
SHOWER/WEAKER TSTORM ACTIVITY FOR THIS AREA. STILL SOME BOUNDARIES
APPARENT ON THE KMVX 88D THAT MAY INTERSECT AND PROVIDE SOME SEVERE
WEATHER. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR BUT EXPECT LITTLE CHANGE TO
THUNDER WORDING IN ZONES. HIGH WIND WATCH ALSO LEFT OVER FROM DAY
SHIFT. APPEARS THAT BEST SFC PRESSURE GRADIENT IS OVER SOUTHWEST ND.
SEEING QUITE A FEW GUSTS IN THAT AREA OVER 50 KNOTS. 12Z/18Z MODEL
RUNS NOT HANDLING THE SFC LOW TRACK VERY WELL. MSAS 3 HOUR PRESSURE
FALLS STILL BEST EAST OF THE LOW (NOT NORTHEAST). THIS FURTHER
SOUTHWARD TRACK WOULD FAVOR A FURTHER SOUTHWARD PUSH OF THE
STRONGEST WINDS. THE EARLIER MODEL RUNS ALSO SHOW BEST PUSH OF COLD
ADVECTION OVER THE FA FROM 06Z-12Z WHICH CORRESPONDS TO THE COLD
FRONTAL PASSAGE. AVN LOOKS TO BE DOING A SLIGHTLY BETTER JOB SHOWING
THE BEST 850 MB WIND SURGE FROM WESTERN ND AND SOUTHEAST UNTIL
06Z...THEN THE AVN IS WEAKER ON 850 MB WIND SPEEDS AFTER 12Z THAN
THE ETA. WILL THEREFORE GO WITH A WIND ADVISORY FOR THE ENTIRE FA
FOR LATE TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY.

.FGF...WIND ADVISORY FOR LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY ENTIRE FA.

GODON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Norman

When: August 16, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Norman County, 9 mi NE of Ada
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.400, -96.383

Thunderstorm Wind, Polk

When: August 16, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Polk County, 5 mi NE of Climax
Property damage: $200
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.667, -96.750

A tree was blown down.

Hail, Polk

When: August 16, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Polk County, 5 mi NE of Climax
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.667, -96.750

Hail, Otter Tail

When: August 16, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Otter Tail County, 3 mi E of Elizabeth
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.383, -96.067

Thunderstorm Wind, Clay

When: August 16, 9:45 PM CST
Where: Clay County, Moorhead
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.883, -96.750

Trees were blown down, some fell across roads.

Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkin

When: August 16, 9:45 PM CST
Where: Wilkin County, 3 mi N of Wolverton
Property damage: $200
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.633, -96.783

Tree limbs were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Becker

When: August 16, 9:57 PM CST
Where: Becker County, Lake Park
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.883, -96.100

A MNDOT RWIS site measured a 63 mph wind gust.

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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, August 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: 5317458, 5317459, 5317460, 5317461, 5317462, 5317463, 5317464.