Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkin
- When
- July 21, 5:10 AM CST
- Where
- Wilkin County, 6 mi W of Campbell
- Measured
- 78 kt (90 mph)
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 46.100, -96.533
A garage was blown down.
Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2002
11 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $91,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 11
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 Jul 21, 1:05 AM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 1:05 AM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 205 AM CDT SUN JUL 21 2002 FORECAST CHALLENGE IS PRECIP THREAT TODAY...THEN TEMPS .OVERVIEW... MAIN SFC COLD FRONT STILL SLOWLY PUSHING INTO NORTHEAST ND THIS AM...WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE/INSTABILITY FROM GFK AND POINTS SOUTH AND EAST. ONE AREA OF ELEVATED CONVECTION IN CENTRAL MN JUST EAST OF AREA IN STRONG 850MB WARM AIR ADVECTION...ANOTHER PUSHING INTO NORTH CENTRAL SD IN LEFT EXIT REGION OF 40KT 850MB JET AHEAD OF 500MB SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO WESTERN DAKOTAS. MODELS STILL HAVING HARD TIME WITH CURRENT SET UP...BUT ETA DID BEST WITH MOISTURE/INSTABILITY SO WILL UTILIZE. .SHORT TERM... WILL MENTION PATCHY FOG IN ALL BUT NORTHERN ZONES THIS MORNING...WITH ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND WEAK SFC FLOW. MAIN 850MB FRONT AND UPPER SUPPORT MOVES THROUGH REGION TODAY...EXPECT A ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN 2/3 OF FA SOUTH OF A GFK TO BJI LINE. CAPES STILL AROUND 2000J/KG FROM 12-18Z IN FAR SOUTH...SO WOULDN/T RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SEVERE EVENT HERE WITH NEW SLIGHT RISK AREA IN SWODY1 NEAR SOUTHEAST REGION. BEST 850MB COOLING WORKS INTO REGION THIS AFTERNOON...SO ONLY THING THAT WILL LIMIT INSOLATION IS CLOUD COVER. EXPECT TEMPS TO BE ABOUT 5 DEGREES COOLER THAN YESTERDAY...AS DRIER AIR FILTERS INTO REGION BY AFTERNOON. .LONG TERM... 850MB TEMPS COOL TO AROUND +8C BY MONDAY AFTERNOON...AS DRY HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER REGION BY TUESDAY. THIS WILL MEAN TEMPS BELOW NORMAL FOR MONDAY TUESDAY...WITH LOWS TUESDAY MORNING INTO THE UPPER 40S NORTH TO AROUND 50 SOUTH...ALMOST 20 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. .EXTENDED... NO CHANGES PLANNED AT THIS TIME. .FGF...NONE. KELLENBENZ
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
11 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkin
- When
- July 21, 5:15 AM CST
- Where
- Wilkin County, 4 mi W of Campbell
- Measured
- 87 kt (100 mph)
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 46.100, -96.483
A small aircraft hangar was blown down with the debris scattered over one-half mile away.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkin
- When
- July 21, 5:20 AM CST
- Where
- Wilkin County, Campbell
- Measured
- 78 kt (90 mph)
- Property damage
- $20,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 46.100, -96.400
Widespread tree and roof damage was observed. Trees were uprooted and power lines were blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkin
- When
- July 21, 5:26 AM CST
- Where
- Wilkin County, Tenney
- Measured
- 66 kt (76 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.050, -96.450
A MNDOT RWIS site measured a 76 mph wind gust.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wilkin
- When
- July 21, 5:30 AM CST
- Where
- Wilkin County, 5 mi E of Tenney
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 46.050, -96.350
A power pole was snapped and trees damaged.
Thunderstorm Wind, Grant
- When
- July 21, 5:35 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Grant County, Wendell
- Measured
- 70 kt (81 mph)
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 46.033, -96.100
Large tree limbs were blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Otter Tail
- When
- July 21, 5:40 AM CST
- Where
- Otter Tail County, 6 mi SW of Fergus Falls
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 46.217, -96.150
Small outbuildings were destroyed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Otter Tail
- When
- July 21, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Otter Tail County, Battle Lake
- Property damage
- $1,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 46.283, -95.717
Numerous trees were blown down, several falling on garages.
Thunderstorm Wind, Otter Tail
- When
- July 21, 6:10 AM CST
- Where
- Otter Tail County, Henning
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 46.317, -95.433
Power poles were blown down by the strong wind. A tree also fell on the city playground equipment, causing a total loss. A new church being constructed was also flattened.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wadena
- When
- July 21, 6:28 AM CST
- Where
- Wadena County, 2 mi NNW of Verndale
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 46.433, -95.033
A MNDOT RWIS site measured a 60 mph wind gust.
Thunderstorm Wind, Wadena
- When
- July 21, 7:15 AM CST
- Where
- Wadena County, Wadena
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 46.450, -95.133
Power lines were blown down.
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, July 21, 2002
- Wildfire in California, July 21 to 31, 2002
- Wildfire in California, July 21 to 24, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, July 21, 2002
- Flash Flood and Hail in Nebraska, July 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 21, 2002
- Flood and Hail in Georgia, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 21, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Iowa, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 21, 2002
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 21, 2002
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, July 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: 5308372, 5308373, 5308374, 5308375, 5308376, 5308377, 5308378, 5308379, 5308380, 5308381, 5308382.