Name: Flash Flood in Minnesota, August 9, 2002
Start: 2002-08-09T00:30
End: 2002-08-09T02:30
Location: Minnesota

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 8, 9:05 PM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 9:05 PM CST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1005 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

FORECAST CHALLENGE FOR TODAY IS PRECIPITATION. LATEST SATELLITE
IMAGERY SHOWS VARIETY OF CLOUD DECKS ALONG WITH SOME PATCHY FOG
SCATTERED ACROSS THE AREA. KMVX HAS ONE THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER MOVING
THROUGH WC MN...WITH SHOWERS MOVING INTO E ND. CURRENT MSAS SURFACE
ANALYSIS SHOWS SURFACE LOW CENTERED IN SW MB...WITH FRONT EXTENDING
THROUGH ND ALONG A MOT-BIS-MBG LINE. WHEN COMPARING MSAS DATA TO
MODEL INITIALIZATIONS...ALL MODELS SIMILAR IN MOVING SURFACE FRONT
INTO AREA...WITH UPPER LEVEL FLOW PARALLEL TO FRONT AS SHORTWAVE
MOVES THROUGH UPPER LEVEL FLOW. CONSIDERING THAT HAVE PLENTY OF
MOISTURE AVAILABLE IN LOW LEVELS (DEWPOINTS IN 65 TO 75 RANGE) AND
ALSO PRECIPITABLE WATERS ON MODEL SOUNDINGS FROM 1.75 TO 2.0
INCHES...HEAVY RAINS REMAIN POSSIBLE...SO NO CHANGES NEEDED TO FLOOD
WATCH FOR AREA AT THIS TIME. ONLY MINOR CHANGE NEEDED REST OF
FORECAST.

.FGF...FLOOD WATCH FOR DVL AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT...FOR RRV THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...AND FOR REST OF MN TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.

NG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 8, 7:06 PM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
806 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

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

0305 PM    4 NW SOUTHAM              ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   RAMSEY

0330 PM    3 W BARTLET               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   RAMSEY

0415 PM    8 W VALLEY CITY           ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   BARNES

0450 PM    FINLEY                    ND   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/02   STEELE                         BUILDING UNDER
                                          CONSTRUCTION COLAPSED
                                          ESTIMATED 75 MPH WINDS

0450 PM    FINLEY                    ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0515 PM    COLGATE                   ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0530 PM    7 E HOPE                  ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0542 PM    1 S EMERADO               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0542 PM    1 S EMERADO               ND   60 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0550 PM    7 E GRAND FORKS AFB       ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0555 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    FGF WFO

0555 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   59 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    FGF WFO

0600 PM    6 W GRAND FORKS           ND   62 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    KGFK AIRPORT

0605 PM    EAST GRAND FORKS          MN   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/02   POLK                           TREE DAMAGE...4-5 INCH DIA

0625 PM    6 S BLABON                ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0625 PM    6 S BLABON                ND   60 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   STEELE

0645 PM    6 NW HOPE                 ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

Local storm report, Aug 8, 8:35 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
935 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

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

0855 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    NWS EMPLOYEE

0900 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    KGFK POLICE DEPT

0931 PM    ROSEAU                    MN   67 MPH TSTORM WIND
08/08/02   ROSEAU                         AWOS REPORT

DP

Local storm report, Aug 8, 11:25 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
1225 AM CDT FRI AUG 9 2002

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

0910 PM    2 NE EAST GRAND FORKS     MN   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   POLK

1103 PM    NEW ROCKFORD              ND   65 MPH TSTORM WIND
08/08/02   EDDY

1210 AM    STARKWEATHER              ND   65 MPH TSTORM WIND
08/09/02   RAMSEY

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 145 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Kittson

When: August 9, 12:30 AM CST to 2:30 AM CST
Where: Kittson County, 1 mi NE of Kennedy
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 48.777, -96.783 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

County roads were covered with 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 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: 5317274.