Name: Flash Flood in Minnesota, June 11, 2002
Start: 2002-06-11T03:00
End: 2002-06-11T04:30
Location: Minnesota

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: $4,000
Crop damage: $10,000
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 ARX wrote it up.

Rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches in 1 to 2 hours triggered flash flooding during the early morning hours. The driver of a van had to be rescued when their vehicle stalled in two feet of water covering Highway 52 south of Rochester. The heavy rain also caused culverts to become plugged with debris on the northwest side of Rochester.

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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 11, 1:45 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 11, 1:45 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
245 AM CDT TUE JUN 11 2002

FORECAST CONCERNS CENTER ON THE PCPN CHANCES.

AFTER SOME FLIP FLOPPING...00Z MODEL RUNS PRETTY SIMILAR WITH
POSITIONING AND TIMING OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY CURRENTLY MOVING
THROUGH THE REGION. AVN/ETA SOLUTIONS ALSO LOOK GOOD THROUGH 72
HOURS.

THE 05Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACED A LOW OVER NORTHERN MN WITH A COLD
FRONT RUNNING SOUTH OF THE LOW TO ANOTHER LOW OVER NORTHERN IA...AND
THEN SOUTHWEST TO THE STRONGEST LOW OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST CO. A
MESO-LOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHWEST WI...WITH AN
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY SOUTH OF THERE. DEWPOINTS WERE MOSTLY AROUND 70. AS
FOR THE RADAR...LATEST IMAGERY PLACED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS RUNNING FROM NORTHWEST WI INTO SOUTHWEST IA.

FRONTAL BOUNDARIES...AS HAS BEEN THE CASE FOR ABOUT THE LAST
MONTH...WILL BE THE LINCHPIN FOR THE FORECAST. LATEST FRONT WILL
CONTINUE TO SLIDE TO THE SOUTH THIS MORNING (PUSHING THE PCPN WITH
IT)...LIKELY HANGING UP FROM FAR SOUTHERN WI INTO THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS TONIGHT. THE BOUNDARY LOOKS TO PUSH EAST AND SOUTH OF THE
REGION ON WED/THU. MCV FROM THE CONVECTION OVER IA WILL SLIDE ACROSS
SOUTHERN WI TODAY...JUST AHEAD OF THE SINKING FRONT. THIS SHOULD
HELP ENHANCE/TRIGGER MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE
BOUNDARY...WHICH WILL KEEP GOOD PCPN CHANCES FOR THE SOUTHERN AND
EASTERN ZONE CUTS. ELSEWHERE...AFTER THE CURRENT LINE OF STORMS
MOVES THROUGH...POPS WILL DIMINISH APPRECIABLY. WITH SOME
UNCERTAINTY WITH THE EXACT POSITION OF THAT FRONT...THOUGH...WILL
KEEP SMALL POPS INTO THIS EVENING FOR SOME CUTS WEST AND NORTH.
TONIGHT...EXPECT ANOTHER MCS TO DEVELOP IN THE MO VALLEY...AND STAY
WELL SOUTH OF THIS AREA. MOST OF THE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ON THE
SOUTH SIDE OF THE FRONT...AND NOT A LOT OF CAPE OR LOW LEVEL SHEAR
TO WORK WITH. AGAIN...WITH CLOSE PROXIMITY OF THE FRONT...WILL KEEP
SOME SHOWER/STORMS CHANCES GOING TONIGHT...MAINLY SOUTH.

ON WED...RH FIELDS/SOUNDINGS POINT TO DRYING...WITH A WEAK HIGH AT
THE SFC. LOOKS LIKE A PARTLY SUNNY...LESS HUMID...AND RATHER
SEASONABLE DAY. NEARLY CUTOFF 500 MB LOW WILL START TO MAKE PROGRESS
EAST...MOVING OVER NORTHERN MN BY 12Z THU. MAIN TROUGH AXIS POINTS
DUE WEST WITH A DECENT AMOUNT OF VORT ENERGY MOVING THROUGH THE
BASE. THE SYSTEM WILL HAVE TO BRING ITS OWN MOISTURE...AND SHOULD
HAVE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FOR
THU AFTERNOON. WITH THE FLOW GOING NORTHWEST BY FRIDAY...TEMPS WILL
COOL OFF FOR THE END OF THE WORK WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND. THE FLOW
WILL ALSO ALLOW FOR NUMEROUS SHORTWAVES WILL ZIP THROUGH THE
AREA...WHICH WOULD LEAD TO SHOWER/STORM CHANCES. CURRENT EXTENDED
COVERS THIS WELL.

.LSE...NONE.

RIECK

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 11, 12:08 AM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
108 AM CDT TUE JUN 11 2002

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

1256 AM    3 S LAKE CITY             MN   .75 INCH HAIL
06/11/02   WABASHA                        REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

MW

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Olmsted

When: June 11, 3:00 AM CST to 4:30 AM CST
Where: Olmsted County, Countywide
Property damage: $4,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 44.004, -92.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5305685.