High Wind in Minnesota, February 11, 2002

Name: High Wind in Minnesota, February 11, 2002
Start: 2002-02-11T16:00
End: 2002-02-11T21:00
Location: Minnesota

February 11, 2002 · NWS MPX · 14 events in 14 counties and zones

Strong low pressure tracked across southern Canada, and high pressure moved into the high plains states. Very strong west to northwest winds developed as a result.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 14 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: 14

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 happened

The episode as NWS MPX wrote it up.

Strong low pressure tracked across southern Canada, and high pressure moved into the high plains states. Very strong west to northwest winds developed as a result. The strongest gust was 56 knots (64 mph) measured at two locations: Madison (Lac Qui Parle County) with AWOS, and near Hanley Falls (Yellow Medicine County) with a Road Weather Information System (RWIS). The highest sustained wind was 44 knots (51 mph) at Madison. Some other gusts include 63 mph at Willmar and Alexandria.

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 Feb 11, 3:00 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 3:00 PM CST, 1 hour before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
300 PM CST MON FEB 11 2002

STRONG WINDS HAVE DEVELOPED UPSTREAM OF THE SURFACE TROUGH...NOW
OVER WRN MN.  A STRONG PRESSURE RISE FALL COUPLET CONTINUES OVER NRN
MN. THE MODELS KEEP THIS COUPLET ACROSS THE NORTHERN FORECAST AREA
THROUGH THE EVENING. THIS IS ENOUGH TO EXPAND THE WIND ADVISORY FOR
THE N CENTRAL PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE UPPER JET IS
TRANSLATING SWRD WITH STRONG SUBSIDENCE...HOWEVER EAST-WEST
ORIENTATION OF THE JET SHOULD LIMIT MOMENTUM IN SRN ZONES...HOWEVER
THERE COULD BE AN HOUR OR TWO OF STRONG WINDS THIS EVENING...THE
WIND ADVISORY WILL BE EXPANDED TO MOST OF THE MN ZONES IN THE
FORECAST AREA DUE TO PRESSURE RISES AND COLD ADVECTION.   THE OTHER
QUESTION IS SNOWFALL TONIGHT.  THE CURRENT TROUGH TRANSLATES EWRD
WITH AN ARCTIC FRONT FORECAST FOR LATE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY.  SOME
SNOW SHOWERS SHOULD DEVELOP IN DYNAMIC LIFT AHEAD OF THE UPPER
TROUGH... ESPECIALLY IN NRN AND ERN ZONES.  SOME BLOWING SNOW WILL
BE MENTIONED AS THE WIND MAINTAINS ITSELF.

ON TUESDAY TEMPERATURES SHOULD FALL IN MOST AREAS...ALTHOUGH THERE
MAY BE ENOUGH CLEARING FOR SOME RECOVERY IN WRN ZONES.  THE AVN
MODEL INDICATES ANOTHER CLIPPER FOR THURSDAY...SO A CHANCE OF SNOW
IS CONTINUED THERE.  THE UPPER RIDGE IS MIGRATING WWRD WITH
TIME...SO A DRY PERIOD IS EXPECTED INTO THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

.MSP...WIND ADVISORIES THIS EVENING FOR MN PORTIONS OF THE
FORECAST AREA EXCEPT RED WING.
 SCOTT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Chippewa

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Chippewa forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.022, -95.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Douglas

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Douglas forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.934, -95.453 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Kandiyohi

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Kandiyohi forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.152, -95.005 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Lac Qui Parle

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Lac Qui Parle forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.996, -96.173 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, McLeod

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: McLeod forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.824, -94.272 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Meeker

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Meeker forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.123, -94.527 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Pope

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Pope forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.586, -95.444 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Redwood

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Redwood forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.404, -95.254 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Renville

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Renville forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.727, -94.947 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Stearns

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Stearns forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.552, -94.613 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Stevens

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Stevens forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.586, -96.000 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Swift

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Swift forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 45.283, -95.681 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Todd

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Todd forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.071, -94.898 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Yellow Medicine

When: February 11, 4:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Yellow Medicine forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 44.716, -95.868 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, February 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: 5282213, 5282214, 5282215, 5282216, 5282217, 5282218, 5282219, 5282220, 5282221, 5282222, 5282223, 5282224, 5282225, 5282226.