Minnesota, 2002

Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Minnesota, August 26, 2002

August 26, 2002 · NWS FGF · 37 events in 10 counties and zones

29 hail, 5 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 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
$10,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
37

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 26, 1:50 PM CST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 1:50 PM CST, 55 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
250 PM CDT MON AUG 26 2002

...NEW SVR WATCH JUST ISSUED FOR ERN ND PER SPC CONF CALL...

MAIN CHALLENGE IS SVR WX POTENTIAL TONIGHT.

SFC MAP SHOWS CONTINUED WEAK FLOW OVER THE AREA MAKING BOUNDARY
IDENTIFICATION DIFFICULT.  SFC LOW IN SE WYOMING WITH A TROUGH NORTH
INTO FAR WRN ND.  OTHERWISE ERN/CNTRL ND AND WRN MN IN SOUTHEASTLY
FLOW.  DEW PTS HAVE MADE GOOD RECOVERY WITH MOST SITES IN THE 65 TO
70 RANGE...ONCE AGAIN A GOOD 4-8 DEGREES HIGHER THAN PROGGED BY ANY
MODEL.  MSAS SHOWS SFC LI DOWN TO -9 OVER NE ND AND ERN SD.  VSBL
SATELLITE HAS SHOWN TENDENCY FOR CU TO FORM IN AREA FROM BISMARCK TO
JUST WEST OF GRAND FORKS...BUT NOT MUCH GROWTH SINCE 18Z.  RADARS
SHOW TSRA IN NRN SD BACKBUILDING WESTWARD INTO NW SD IN AREA OF
THICKNESS DIFFLUENCE.

.SHORT TERM...
MODIFIED MESO ETA SOUNDINGS FOR TEMPS IN THE MID 80S AND DEW PTS IN
THE UPR 60S SHOWS CAPES AT 00Z AROUND 3600 J/KG AND LI TO -10 AT
KGFK.  WATER VAPOR SHOWS SOME WEAK EMBEDDED SHORT WAVES MOVING SOUTH
OF UPR LOW THRU SD/ND....BUT REALLLY HARD TO DISCERN WHICH ONE WILL
SET OFF ACTIVITY.  85H JET/THETA-E VALUES INCREASE A BIT OVERNIGHT
MAXING AROUND 06Z.  BASED ON PAST DAYS WEATHER AND CURRENT
INSTABILITY VALUES WOULD EXPECT SCT TSRA TO FIRE LATE THIS AFTN
NORTHEAST OF BISMARCK WITH POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH INTO A LARGER AREA
DURING THE EVENING.  WILL CONTINUE MENTION OF SVR THIS EVENING FOR
NW MN AND ERN ND.  FZG LEVELS AROUND 11.5 KFT.  THICKNESS FIELDS AND
UPR FLOW ALOFT WOULD SUGGEST SLOW MOVES WITH POTENTIAL FOR
BACKBUILDING OF ANY COMPLEX WHICH MAY FORM.  THIS COULD GIVE LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL.

.LONGER TERM...
50H UPR LOW IN SRN SASK WILL DRIFT ENE VERY SLOWLY INTO SRN MANITOBA
TUE-WED TIME FRAME AND WEAKEN FURTHER.  50H TEMPS WARM A BIT BUT LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS HIGH WITH DEW PTS HOLDING IN THE 60S.  WITH
CONTINUED SHORT WAVES MOVING THRU AREA IN BROAD SW FLOW WILL
CONTINUE MENTION OF TSRA THRU WED.  ETA BRINGS A TROUGH INTO ERN ND
LATE WED AVN BRINGS IT THROUGH LATE TUESDAY.  WILL LEAN TOWARD
SLOWER ETA SOLN. WILL KEEP THURSDAY DRY AWAITING NEXT IMPULSE.
WILL KEEP TEMPS NEARLY SAME THRU PD.

.EXTENDED...
LONG RANGE MODELS IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT. 500MB TROF
DEEPENS ALONG W US COAST...AS ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROF MOVES THROUGH
THE REGION BY THE WEEKEND. THEN...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE STARTS BUILDING
INTO THE AREA. WITH GOOD CONTINUITY TO PRIOR FORECAST...ONLY MINIMAL
NEEDED TO BOTH PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURES.

.FGF...NONE.

RIDDLE/NG

.FGF...NONE
RIDDLE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 26, 8:52 AM CST, 5 hours 53 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
952 AM CDT MON AUG 26 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1240 AM    3.5 S LEEDS               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/26/02   BENSON

0130 AM    MINNEWAUKAN               ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/26/02   BENSON

0200 AM    MINNEWAUKAN               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/26/02   BENSON

0200 AM    3 SW DEVILS LAKE          ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/26/02   RAMSEY
Special weather statement, Aug 26, 9:50 AM CST, 4 hours 55 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-261800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...UDPATED
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1050 AM CDT MON AUG 26 2002

...SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA AND EXTREME NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

SYNOPSIS...MOIST UNSTABLE AIR WILL BE ACROSS THE AREA. A SLOW UPPER
LEVEL SYSTEM OVER SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST.
AFTERNOON HEATING WITH COLD AIR ALOFT WILL DESTABILIZE THE
ATMOSPHERE AND CAUSE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP.

AREA OF CONCERN...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
OVER ALL OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND OVER A SMALL PART OF NORTHWEST
MINNESOTA...GENERALLY WEST OF A ROSEAU TO ADA TO WAHPETON LINE.

TIME...START AFTER 2PM AND DIMINISH AFTER 1 AM TUESDAY MORNING.

TYPE OF HAZARD...MAINLY LARGE HAIL. ISOLATED HIGH WINDS.

HOPPES/RIDDLE

NNNN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

29 hail, 5 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Polk

When
August 26, 2:45 PM CST
Where
Polk County, 7 mi E of Euclid
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.967, -96.483

The hail was one inch deep.

Hail, Polk

When
August 26, 2:45 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Euclid
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.967, -96.633

Hail, Red Lake

When
August 26, 3:00 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 3 mi NE of Dorothy
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.967, -96.400

Tornado, Polk

When
August 26, 3:00 PM CST to 3:04 PM CST
Where
Polk County, 7 mi SE of Euclid
Rating
F0
Path length
1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
47.900, -96.533

A small tornado track was found, which continued into Red Lake county.

Tornado, Red Lake

When
August 26, 3:04 PM CST to 3:10 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 3 mi NW of Huot
Rating
F0
Path length
2 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
47.917, -96.450

This tornado originated in Polk county.

Hail, Pennington

When
August 26, 3:10 PM CST
Where
Pennington County, 6 mi W of St Hilaire
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.017, -96.350

Hail, Red Lake

When
August 26, 3:15 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 6 mi W of Red Lake Falls
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.883, -96.400

Hail, Pennington

When
August 26, 3:15 PM CST
Where
Pennington County, 4 mi W of St Hilaire
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.017, -96.300

Hail, Red Lake

When
August 26, 3:30 PM CST to 3:55 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, Red Lake Falls
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.883, -96.267

Hail, Pennington

When
August 26, 3:40 PM CST
Where
Pennington County, 1 mi S of St Hilaire
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.000, -96.217

Hail, Otter Tail

When
August 26, 3:42 PM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, 2 mi NW of Vergas
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.683, -95.833

Hail, Roseau

When
August 26, 3:55 PM CST
Where
Roseau County, 2 mi SW of Pencer
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.683, -95.667

Tornado, Red Lake

When
August 26, 4:00 PM CST to 4:01 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 4 mi W of Brooks
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.817, -96.083

A brief touchdown was reported.

Hail, Becker

When
August 26, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Becker County, 2 mi WSW of Frazee
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.717, -95.733

Hail, Otter Tail

When
August 26, 4:00 PM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, 5 mi NE of Vergas
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.717, -95.733

Hail, Red Lake

When
August 26, 4:12 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 2 mi W of Terrebonne
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.833, -96.200

Tornado, Polk

When
August 26, 4:15 PM CST to 4:20 PM CST
Where
Polk County, 5 mi N of Mc Intosh
Rating
F0
Path length
1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.700, -95.900

The tornado stayed on the ground for a mile.

Hail, Red Lake

When
August 26, 4:25 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 3 mi SW of Brooks
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.783, -96.050

Flash Flood, Red Lake

When
August 26, 4:30 PM CST to 6:30 PM CST
Where
Red Lake County, Red Lake Falls
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.872, -96.095 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Street flooding was reported.

Hail, Norman

When
August 26, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Norman County, 3 mi E of Ranum
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.467, -96.067

Hail, Polk

When
August 26, 5:10 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Fertile
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.533, -96.283

Hail, Mahnomen

When
August 26, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Mahnomen County, 3 mi NW of Bejou
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.483, -96.033

Hail, Polk

When
August 26, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Winger
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.533, -95.983

The hail was one inch deep on the ground.

Hail, Polk

When
August 26, 5:20 PM CST
Where
Polk County, Fosston
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.567, -95.733

Hail, Norman

When
August 26, 5:30 PM CST
Where
Norman County, Flom
Measured
2.5 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.167, -96.133

Hail, Beltrami

When
August 26, 5:30 PM CST
Where
Beltrami County, 4 mi NE of Waskish
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.200, -94.433

Hail, Norman

When
August 26, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Norman County, 5 mi SW of Borup
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.133, -96.600

Hail, Clay

When
August 26, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Clay County, 7 mi NW of Felton
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.150, -96.617

Hail, Clay

When
August 26, 6:20 PM CST
Where
Clay County, 2 mi SW of Felton
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.067, -96.550

Hail, Becker

When
August 26, 6:20 PM CST
Where
Becker County, 1 mi N of Ogema
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.117, -95.950

Hail, Mahnomen

When
August 26, 6:20 PM CST
Where
Mahnomen County, 1 mi W of Waubun
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.183, -95.967

Thunderstorm Wind, Clay

When
August 26, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Clay County, 3 mi NW of Felton
Property damage
$200
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.117, -96.567

Tree branches were blown down.

Hail, Clay

When
August 26, 7:05 PM CST to 7:10 PM CST
Where
Clay County, 4 mi N of Ulen
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.133, -96.267

Tornado, Becker

When
August 26, 7:15 PM CST to 7:16 PM CST
Where
Becker County, 9 mi NNE of Lake Park
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.000, -96.033

The tornado briefly touched down in an open field.

Hail, Otter Tail

When
August 26, 7:52 PM CST
Where
Otter Tail County, 4 mi NE of Elizabeth
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.417, -96.067

Thunderstorm Wind, Becker

When
August 26, 8:30 PM CST
Where
Becker County, 2 mi SE of Detroit Lakes
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.800, -95.800

Three boat docks were damaged and several boats were overturned. A large oak tree was also split.

Hail, Polk

When
August 26, 10:53 PM CST
Where
Polk County, East Grand Forks
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.933, -97.017

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
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.
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 historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2002Warnings 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: 5317543, 5317544, 5317545, 5317546, 5317547, 5317548, 5317549, 5317550, 5317551, 5317552, 5317553, 5317554, 5317555, 5317630, 5317631, 5317556, 5317437, 5317438, 5317439, 5317440, 5317441, 5317442, 5317506, 5317507, 5317508, 5317557, 5317558, 5317620, 5317621, 5317622, 5317623, 5317624, 5317625, 5317626, 5317627, 5317628, 5317629.