High Wind in Minnesota, February 11, 2002

Name: High Wind in Minnesota, February 11, 2002
Start: 2002-02-11T14:00
End: 2002-02-11T21:00
Location: Minnesota

February 11, 2002 · NWS FSD · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Northwest winds averaged 40 mph for several hours, and gusted at times to over 55 mph. A few power lines and poles were reported down.

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: $5,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.

Northwest winds averaged 40 mph for several hours, and gusted at times to over 55 mph. A few power lines and poles were reported down.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 11, 9:50 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 9:50 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS
950 AM CST MON FEB 11 2002

ONLY FOCUS FOR DAY IS WIND.  EVOLUTION TO AT LEAST HIGH END WIND
ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF CWA APPEARS LIKELY.  ISSUE IS WHETHER TO
UPGRADE TO HIGH WIND WARNING ANYWHERE...AND WHETHER TO EXPAND ADVY
INTO SNOWCOVERED AREAS TO SE THIS EVENING.

EARLY MORNING SFC ANLYS HAS WIND SHIFT INTO NWRN SD WITH PRESSURE
RISES OF 7-8 HPA/3H INTO NCNTRL MT.  RAP RAOB JUST A SNEEZE FROM
MIXING OUT TO 500 HPA...GGW RAOB WITH QUICK POTENTIAL FOR 70KTS IN
MIXED LYR.  MDL BASE WIND FIELDS ALSO SHOWING ANYWHERE FROM 45 TO 60
KTS AT 925 HPA.

MESOETA AND RUC ARE VERY CLOSE IN DYNAMIC FIELDS SUPPORTING STRONG
SUBSIDENCE 21Z-00Z INTO WRN HALF OF CWA...BUT RUC WNDS A TOUCH LESS
STRONG AT LOWEST LEVELS...BUT 5 KTS OR SO STRONGER AT 850 HPA.  BOTH
MESOETA AND 12Z RUC INDICATE 7-9 MICROBAR/S SUBSIDENCE TO COINCIDE
WITH 55 TO 70 KTS 850 HPA WND.  JET BECOMES MORE SUPPORTIVE OF WIND
AS WELL THRU AFTN IN SAME REGARDS.  BEST ISALLOBARIC SUPPORT THRU
NRN CWA.  CI FCST TO THIN NW TO SE DURG AFTN AS WELL...INSOLATION IN
SUPPORT OF INCREASING GRADIENT AS WELL.  FCST TMPS... CONSIDERING
LOW LVL THERMAL STRUCTURE...ARE INCOMPATABLE WITH WND FCST AS WELL.
SINCE TMPS LOOK VERY REASONABLE...THIS WUD ALSO SUPPORT STRONGER
WNDS.

ALSO...WINDS ON BUFF RIDGE...OVER SNOWCOVER...ARE TOUCHING WIND ADVY
LVLS ATTM ALREADY EARLY THIS MORNING...BUT WL DECREASE AS BEST LLJ
SHIFTS EWRD THRU THE MORNING.

APPRECIATE COORD WITH ABR AND MPX.

.FSD...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTN AND EVE WEST AND NORTH
          OF A LINE FROM ROUGHLY PICKSTOWN TO MADISON TO MARSHALL
       WIND ADVY THIS AFTN/EVE SW MN AND MOST OF REMAINDER OF SERN
          SD EXCEPT FAR SE
       WIND ADVY THIS EVNG REMAINDER NW IA...AND FAR SE SD
CHAPMAN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Lincoln

When: February 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Lincoln forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.413, -96.267 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Lyon

When: February 11, 2:00 PM CST to 9:00 PM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 44.414, -95.839 (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: 5283798, 5283799.