Minnesota, 2002

Hail in Minnesota, June 4, 2002

June 4, 2002 · NWS ARX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Personnel at KTTC-TV in Rochester, as well as the general public, reported hail the size of dimes and quarters.

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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$7,000
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 ARX wrote it up.

Personnel at KTTC-TV in Rochester, as well as the general public, reported hail the size of dimes and quarters.

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 3, 11:47 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 11:47 PM CST, 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
1247 AM CDT TUE JUN 4 2002

MAIN FORECAST FOCUS IS ON RAIN CHANCES THROUGH MIDWEEK.

SUBJECTIVE DATA ANALYSIS AT 04Z SHOWING THE SAME STALLED BOUNDARY
MEANDERING ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA.  A WEAK DISTURBANCE ALONG THE FRONT
IS LOCATED IN SOUTHWESTERN IOWA.  CONVECTION HAS BEEN DEVELOPING
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA...THE RESULT OF INCREASING LOW LEVEL FLOW
OVER THE WARM FRONT.  HEAVY RAIN AT THIS TIME IS FURTHER SOUTH THAN
LAST NIGHTS STORMS.  SATURATED SOILS FROM LAST NIGHTS STORMS ARE
MAINLY IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA AND FROM LA CROSSE NORTH AND EAST.

EXPECT CONVECTION TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND BECOME ORGANIZED INTO
AN MCS.  CORFIDI VECTORS SUGGEST SOMEWHAT SLOW PROPAGATION.  THIS IN
CONJUNCTION WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED SATURATED SOILS SPELLS TROUBLE
FOR FLOODING.  WILL BE MONITORED FOR A WATCH THIS MORNING.

LARGER SCALE SHOWS AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING INTO NORTHERN
MONTANA.  THIS WILL BE THE UPPER LEVEL FEATURE THAT WILL USHER THE
BOUNDARY TO THE SOUTH.

THE CONVECTION SHOULD MOVE OUT THIS MORNING.  THERE SHOULD BE A
BRIEF RESPITE FROM THE PRECIPITATION UNTIL THE LARGE SCALE FORCING
FROM THE APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE NEARS THE FORECAST AREA
LATER IN THE DAY.  THE EXCEPTION WILL BE OVER THE SOUTHERN
ZONES WHERE ONCE AGAIN THE FORCING REMAINS FOCUSED ALONG
THE FRONT.  THIS DID CAUSE SOME REDEVELOPMENT DURING THE DAY TODAY
AND SEE NO REASON WHY THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN.  WILL WAIT UNTIL
ISSUANCE TO MAKE FINAL DECISION ON THIS GIVEN CURRENT DATA AT THAT
TIME.

UPPER LEVEL FORCING THIS EVENING...WHICH IS QUITE STRONG...REMAINS
FOCUSED TO THE NORTH WHERE THE DISTURBANCE IS.  LOW LEVEL FORCING IS
FOCUSED ALONG THE FRONT WHERE ONE MIGHT EXPECT IT.  THESE MOVE
THROUGH THE REGION...BRINGING MORE THUNDERSTORMS TO THE FORECAST
AREA.  TIMING IS DIFFICULT...BUT GIVEN THE CURRENT LOCATION...THINK
THERE WILL BE A BREAK FROM THE CONVECTION THIS MORNING...THEN ANOTHER
ROUND OF CONVECTION THIS EVENING.

THE DISTURBANCE PUSHES THE FRONT SOUTH...AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO
THE FORECAST AREA AND REMAINS THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  THE UPPER
LEVEL COLD POOL WILL MOVE THROUGH WEDNESDAY.  TQ INDEX SUGGESTS
CLOUDS DURING THE DAY...WITH SOME SHOWERS POSSIBLE.

NEXT SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE REGION WILL DROP OUT OF CANADA THURSDAY.
AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM...SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP.  THIS WILL
TRANSPORT WARMER AIR INTO THE REGION.

.LSE...NONE.

KRC

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Olmsted

When
June 4, 12:15 AM CST
Where
Olmsted County, Rochester
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
44.033, -92.467

Hail, Olmsted

When
June 4, 12:20 AM CST
Where
Olmsted County, 10 mi NE of Rochester
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$2,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
44.133, -92.317

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5305614, 5305615.