Minnesota, 2002

Flash Flooding in Minnesota, August 30, 2002

August 30, 2002 · NWS FGF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 29, 7:45 PM CST, 6 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 29, 7:45 PM CST, 6 hours before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
845 PM CDT THU AUG 29 2002

CLUSTER OF NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY DRIFTING NORTH NEAR
FAR AND EXTENDING TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST. THEY ARE AIDED BY A WEAK
UPPER VORT LOBE THAT IS BEING SHEARED APART. THESE STORMS ARE
WEAKENING AND WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO DIMINISH NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS
SINCE HEATING WAS HELD DOWN SOME TODAY AND WE HAVE NO LOW LEVEL JET
READY TO TURN THIS INTO AN ELEVATED EVENT.

FORMATION OF FOG OR LOW CLOUDS IS DIFFICULT CHALLENGE TONIGHT AND
WILL LET PATCHY FOG RIDE IN ZONES AS STATED. BUT MINIMIZED IT IN
TAFS DUE PERSISTENT CLOUDS AND WEAK WARM ADVECTION.

WILL LOOK TO 00Z MODEL RUNS WITH INTEREST SINCE 12Z DIDN/T APPEAR
TO HANDLE TOMORROWS EVENT WELL. AVN SEEMED TO PUSH THE SHORTWAVE
INTO THE AREA ALONG WITH THE ASSOCIATED LOW LEVEL JET...CONVERGENT/
DIVERGENT AREAS...MOIST ADVECTION ETC WITH BETTER CORRELATION THAN
ETA DID...THOUGH QPF PANELS SEEM TO DISMISS ITS POTENTIAL.

.FGF...FLOOD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK ISSUED FOR ENTIRE CFWA FOR FRIDAY
AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY..

GV

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Polk

When
August 30, 1:45 AM CST to 5:45 AM CST
Where
Polk County, Erskine
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Street flooding was reported.

Flash Flood, Red Lake

When
August 30, 6:44 AM CST to 7:44 AM CST
Where
Red Lake County, 9 mi W of Brooks
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.872, -96.095 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

County road 14 washed out about 2.5 miles east of highway 32.

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: 5317902, 5317903.