Flood in Minnesota, June 10 to 25, 2002

Name: Flood in Minnesota, June 10 to 25, 2002
Start: 2002-06-10T21:00
End: 2002-06-25T01:00
Location: Minnesota

June 10 to 25, 2002 · NWS FGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rainfall on the 9th and 10th produced a record flood on the Roseau River at Roseau. 32 inches of rain, but unofficial reports of 15 to 18 inches of rain were received.

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: $200 million
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 happened

The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.

Heavy rainfall on the 9th and 10th produced a record flood on the Roseau River at Roseau. The NDAWN mesonet site near Roseau measured 4.32 inches of rain, but unofficial reports of 15 to 18 inches of rain were received. The official cooperative observer in Roseau reported 9.25 inches of rain for June and the official Warroad cooperative observer reported 13.79 inches. This caused the Roseau River to rise nearly 17 feet and reach a new record stage of 23.3 feet on the 12th. The city of Roseau struggled to protect against the rising river, but the levels got too high for the city dikes. The dikes broke, sending water throughout the city of 2500. The city retreated to try to save the local Polaris plant, hospital, and high school. Most people were evacuated to the town of Badger, 15 miles west of Roseau. It was estimated that 90 percent of the total cropland in the county was flooded. In the city of Roseau, businesses reported $20 million in damages with the total city estimate being nearly $120 million. The county estimated roughly $11 million in damage to roads and bridges. Roseau county received a Presidential disaster declaration.

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 Jun 10, 7:25 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 10, 7:25 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
825 PM CDT MON JUN 10 2002

FORECAST CHALLENGE FOR TONIGHT IS PCPN. CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY
SHOWS CLEARING LINE JUST STARTING TO GET IN W PART OF AREA. KMVX HAS
LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN FAR E COUNTIES...WITH A FEW STILL TRYING TO
PRODUCE HAIL. HOWEVER...BEST INSTABILITY SHIFTING S AND E OF
AREA...SO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EXPIRED AT 8 PM. WHEN LOOKING AT
CURRENT MSAS SURFACE PRESSURE ANALYSIS...LOW PRESSURE CENTERED
BETWEEN FSE AND BJI...WITH COLD FRONT EXTENDING ALONG A FSE TO FFM
LINE. WHEN COMPARING INITIALIZATION CONDITIONS TO MODELS...ETA BEST
MATCH. SFC LOW AND COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE MOVING E
OVERNIGHT...PUSHING BEST INSTABILITY S AND E OF AREA. THEREFORE...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EXPIRED AT 8 PM. EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO
EXIT E COUNTIES BY MIDNIGHT. THEREFORE...WILL NEED TO CLEAN UP ZONES
TO REMOVE SEVERE WORDING AND TO TIME ENDING OF RAINFALL.
OTHERWISE...ONLY MINOR CHANGES REST OF FORECAST.

.FGF...NONE.

NG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 10, 4:11 PM CST, 4 hours 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
511 PM CDT MON JUN 10 2002

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

1255 PM    3 SW NORTHCOTE            MN   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/10/02   KITTSON

Special weather statement, Jun 10, 6:23 PM CST, 2 hours 37 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-015-016-026>030-
038-039-049-052>054-110045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
723 PM CDT MON JUN 10 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR PARTS OF NORTHWESTERN AND
WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA UNTIL 800 PM CDT...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND
ADJOINING COUNTIES IN RED RIVER VALLEY OF NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT FOR
THE FOLLOWING NORTHWESTERN AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA COUNTIES:
ROSEAU...LAKE OF THE WOODS...EASTERN MARSHALL...BELTRAMI...RED
LAKE...PENNINGTON...EASTERN POLK...CLEARWATER...MAHNOMEN...BECKER...
OTTERTAIL...GRANT...HUBBARD AND WADENA.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER HAS DISSIPATED OVER EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA AND THE RED RIVER VALLEY COUNTIES OF NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THEREFORE...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS
BEEN CANCELLED.

NG

Special weather statement, Jun 10, 7:31 PM CST, 1 hour 29 minutes before

MNZ005-006-008-009-013>017-022>024-027-028-030>032-040-110200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
831 PM CDT MON JUN 10 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 800 PM CDT...

THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND ITS ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT ARE STILL
MOVING THROUGH PARTS OF NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...AND
AIDING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS. HOWEVER...NO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE AREA YET THIS EVENING. AS A
RESULT...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WAS ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 800
PM CDT.

NG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Roseau

When: June 10, 9:00 PM CST to June 25, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Roseau forecast zone
Property damage: $200 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 48.775, -95.811 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, June 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: 5301414.