6 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 1 hail, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 7, 2:10 AM CST, 5 hours 54 minutes earlier.
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 310 AM CDT SUN JUL 7 2002 FORECAST CHALLENGE CONCERNS EARLY HEAVY RAIN THREAT AND TEMPERATURES. MODELS IN PRETTY CLOSE AGREEMENT WITH ONLY SLIGHT BOUNDARY LOCATION AND TIMING DIFFERENCES. OVERALL MODELS IN AGREEMENT FOR POTENTIAL HEAVY RAIN EVENT ACROSS SOUTH HALF OF FA FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT. FAIRLY COMPLEX SFC PATTERN EARLY THIS AM WITH E-W ORIENTED BOUNDARIES THROUGH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA INTO NW MN AND FROM SW SD INTO CENTRAL MN. UPPER LOW OVER NE PANHANDLE DIPICTED BY 00Z UA ANALYSIS HOWEVER TOUGH TO PICK OUT FROM WATER VAPOR. THIS FEATURE TO LIFT SLOWLY NORTHEAST AND AS IT DOES ASSOCIATED SFC LOW BECOMES BETTER DEFINED AND MAIN LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY BECOMES ORIENTED ALONG ND/SD BORDER. REGIONAL RADARS INDICATING UPSTREAM PRECIPITAITON ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER LOW LIFTING SLOWLY NORTH THROUGH CENTRAL DAKOTAS. PWATS INCREASE TO AROUND 2 INCHES AND 850MB DEWPOINTS TO 14C. AS UPPER LOW LIFTS NORTHEAST ASSOCIATED SFC LOW TO RIDE ALONG BOUNDARY PROVIDING ADDITIONAL LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE. 850MB CONVERGENCES ALSO INCREASES ACROSS SOUTHERN THIRD OF ND. ALL THIS LEADS TO GOOD POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN EVENT WITH SLOW MOVEMENT OF MID LEVEL LOW AND LOOSE THICKNESS GRADIENT. ORIENTATION OF BOUNDARY AND INITIATION OF DEEP CONVECTION WILL BE KEY HOWEVER AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS LIKE SOUTHERN THIRD OF FA UNDER THE GUN AND WILL HIGHLIGHT ON WATCH. ALSO CANNOT RULE OUT POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE AS SFC LOW TRACKS ALONG BORDER AND 850MB WARM ADVECTION INCREASE AHEAD OF WAVE ...HOWEVER THIS WILL HINGE ON DEGREE OF SOLAR. CLOUDS TO GRADUALLY THICKEN HOWEVER WITH MILD START WILL NOT TAKE MUCH SOLAR TO REALIZE NUMERICAL GUIDANCE VALUES WHICH ARE AGAIN IN CLOSE AGREEMENT. WILL HOWEVER STAY ON LOW END. MID LEVEL FEATURE MOVES ONLY SLOWLY EAST OVERNIGHT AND EXPECT HEAVY RAIN THREAT TO CONTINUE WITH GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT FROM WEST TO EAST OVERNIGHT. RICH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL HOLD TEMPS UP. CLOUDS TO LINGER MONDAY AS SYSTEM EXITS REGION. BEST POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL RAINFALL LOOKS TO BE CONFINED TO SE FORECAST AREA. OTHERWISE EXPECT GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT FROM WEST TO EAST. BREAK WILL BE SHORT LIVED AS CURRENT PAC NW UPPER LOW TRACKS ACROSS SOUTH CANADIAN PROVINCES. ASSOCIATED SFC FEATURE WILL BRING CHANCE OF PCPN BACK INTO FORECAST FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. .FGF...FLOOD WATCH FULL CWFA SUN AND MON. VOELKER
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-072000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 619 AM CDT SUN JUL 7 2002 ************************************************************* ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... SYNOPSIS...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE WILL INTERACT WITH AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LIFTING NORTHWARD TO THE THE NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER AREA THIS AFTERNOON. AREA OF CONCERN...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 94 IN NORTH DAKOTA AND HIGHWAY 10 IN MINNESOTA. TIME...START AFTER 3PM AND END AFTER SUNSET. TYPE OF HAZARD...MAINLY DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL. AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. VOELKER NNNN STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 thunderstorm wind, 4 lightning, 1 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds blew down numerous trees around Spirit Lake. One property owner reported that his dock, boat lift, and pontoon were flipped completely over.
Trees were blown down.
Tree limbs were blown down.
Lightning struck a house and ignited a fire in the attic.
A 33 year-old man was struck by lightning while riding his motorcycle westbound on U.S. Highway 10. His wife, who was also on the motorcycle, was uninjured.
Tree branches were blown down.
Large tree branches were blown down in the wind.
A brief touchdown was reported.
Lightning struck a power pole snapping two electrical lines. Residents lost power for an hour.
A bolt of lightning hit Hawley's main power hub on the southeast edge of town.
Strong winds hit a farmstead just south of Herman. A man who was in the house at the time said his ears popped. Ten to twelve trees were destroyed and some shingles on the house were lifted. A trampoline in the yard was twisted and the garage door was buckled.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2002Warnings in Minnesota, July 2002
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: 5303481, 5303470, 5303471, 5303472, 5303478, 5303475, 5303473, 5303479, 5303474, 5303476, 5303480, 5303477.