Minnesota, 2002

Flash Flooding in Minnesota, August 3, 2002

August 3, 2002 · NWS MPX · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

5 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
$200,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 3, 2:05 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 2:05 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
305 PM CDT SAT AUG 3 2002

FORECAST CONCERN CONTINUES TO BE FLOODING AND SEVERE WX. CURRENT MCS
STILL PRODUCING SOME HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL NORTH OF THE METRO
AREA AND HINTS OF NEW CELLS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL MN.
POTENTIAL SVR CELLS DEVELOPING OVER EASTERN SD IN HOT PROD AND THETA
E AXIS NEAR SFC LOW. THINK POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING DOWN A LITTLE BIT
IN CENTRAL MN BUT FAVORABLE THICKNESS AND CURRENT ACTIVITY FAVORS
EVENING WORDING. AXIS OF POTENTIAL HEAVY RAIN AXIS MAY THEN SHIFT
SOUTH LATER THIS EVENING WITH RENEWED THETA E ADVECTION. PRECIP
WATER VALUES STILL FORECAST OVER 2 INCHES WITH STRONG SUBTROPICAL
FEED. ETA A LITTLE FASTER PUSHING RAIN THROUGH BY SUNDAY MORNING BUT
WILL KEEP CHANCES GOING IN FAR SOUTHERN MN. SVR THREAT MOST LIKELY
IN SW OR WEST CENTRAL BUT WDL PROFILER NOT SHOWING MUCH SPEED SHEAR.
BEST CHANCE FOR A FEW HOURS THIS EVENING AND THEN MORE INTO A HEAVY
RAIN SITUATION.
NO MUCH

.MSP...FLOOD WATCH THIS EVENING CENTRAL AND EC MN
       INCLUDING ILL/STC/CBG/JMR
       MNZ044-045-049>052-057>059

       FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT SW MN INTO WC WISC
       INCLUDING RWF/JYG/MKT/HCD/MSP/RGK/RPD/EAU
       MNZ053-060>063-065>070-073>078-082-083-WIZ014>016-023>028
JPR

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:04 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, McLeod

When
August 3, 6:00 PM CST to 8:30 PM CST
Where
McLeod County, East Portion
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
44.824, -94.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four to six inches of rain fell within a few hours. One county road washed out. Numerous roads and intersections were impassable. 150 basements flooded with up to three feet of water. Portions of the Glencoe High School had one foot of water flowing through it. Sandbagging took place at Silver Lake and Glencoe.

Flash Flood, Dakota

When
August 3, 7:00 PM CST to 9:30 PM CST
Where
Dakota County, West Portion
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
44.672, -93.065 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Three to five inches of rain fell within a few hours, prompting streets and ditches to flood. Water was two feet deep at a number of intersections from Burnsville to Apple Valley, Rosemount and Waterford.

Flash Flood, Carver

When
August 3, 7:00 PM CST to 9:30 PM CST
Where
Carver County, Countywide
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
44.821, -93.803 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four to eight inches of rain in a few hours resulted in street flooding. One car stalled in the high water. Numerous basements were flooded, some with six feet of water. Water had to be pumped at Hamburg, Waconia, Cologne, and Norwood-Young America.

Flash Flood, Scott

When
August 3, 7:00 PM CST to 9:30 PM CST
Where
Scott County, Countywide
Property damage
$200,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
44.649, -93.536 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four to six inches of rain fell within three hours. Ditches overflowed in Jordan, streets from Belle Plaine to Shakopee flooded with two to three feet of water, and numerous basements were filled with several feet of water. One clogged storm drain in Belle Plaine resulted in water flowing into the basement of a bank. Mudslides were reported from new residential developments in Jordan and Belle Plaine.

Flash Flood, Sibley

When
August 3, 7:00 PM CST to 9:30 PM CST
Where
Sibley County, Northeast Portion
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
44.580, -94.232 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Four to six inches rain in three hours flooded basements in Green Isle and New Auburn. Numerous streets and intersections were flooded with two to three feet of water.

What these are

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.

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, 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: 5314370, 5314369, 5314440, 5314441, 5314442.