Flood in Minnesota, June 9 to 30, 2002

Name: Flood in Minnesota, June 9 to 30, 2002
Start: 2002-06-09T07:00
End: 2002-06-30T23:59
Location: Minnesota

June 9 to 30, 2002 · NWS FGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rainfall on the 8th and 9th caused widespread flooding over Norman county. Unofficial reports of up to 12 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: $3.0 million
Crop damage: $36 million
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 8th and 9th caused widespread flooding over Norman county. Unofficial reports of up to 12 inches of rain were received. This caused the Wild Rice River at Twin Valley to rise to a level of 17.4 feet on the 9th. The Wild Rice River peaked at Hendrum on the 13th at 28.02 feet. At Shelly, the Marsh River rose to 24.92 feet on the 12th. Another round of heavy rain fell on the 22nd and 23rd, causing the rivers to surge once again. Once again, reports of 8 to 12 inches of rain were received. This time, the Wild Rice River at Twin Valley rose to 18.95 feet on the 24th, a new record stage. At Hendrum, the river rose back to 26.48 feet on the 28th. At Shelly, the Marsh River rose back to 24.37 feet on the 27th. Governor Ventura called out the National Guard to help in the county's flood fight. Ada, Twin Valley, and Hendrum had fought record flooding back in the spring of 1997 and summer flooding in 2000. The flooding was not only confined to the rivers, but thousands of acres of cropland were flooded due to overland flooding. An estimated 100,000 acres of crops were destroyed. 80 percent of the roads and bridges in the county sustained damage valued at $1.7 million dollars. County watershed projects were also damaged, at a cost of around $1 million dollars. The Heiberg Dam near Twin Valley was quickly eliminated, as the power of the river created a new channel around the dam. Norman 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 9, 2:33 AM CST, 4 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 9, 2:33 AM CST, 4 hours 27 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
333 AM CDT SUN JUN 9 2002

.SHORT TERM...
WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS UPPER LOW OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH A
WAVE ON THE WEST SIDE. WAVE APPEARS TO BE DIGGING FARTHER TO THE
SOUTHWEST THAN THE ETA FORECAST. SO PREFER THE SLOWER AVN FOR THE
UPPER AIR FEATURES. HOWEVER PREFER THE ETA HANDLING THE
PRECIPITATION OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS. 850 THETA-E RIDGE WAS ACROSS
EXTENDED FROM TX TO SD. GOOD E-W THETA-E GRADIENT WAS ACROSS ND WITH
LOW LEVEL JET FLOW ACROSS THE GRADIENT. GRADIENT WILL SHIFT INTO
SOUTHERN CANADA TODAY. ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED
SUNDAY NIGHT AS DRIER/COOLER AIR MOVES INTO WESTERN ND. STORMS WILL
FIRE IN THE WEST AND MOVE INTO THE EASTERN ND. ALSO LOW LEVEL JET
REDEVELOPS SUNDAY NIGHT. DRIER/COOLER AIR CONTINUES TO MOVE INTO
EASTERN ND ON MONDAY. WRAP AROUND PRECIPITATION WILL MOVE INTO FOR
TUESDAY.

.LONG TERM...
NO CHANGES.

.FGF...FLOOD WATCH ENTIRE FORECAST AREA TODAY THROUGH MONDAY.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST ND AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST ND
TIL 7AM CDT.
HOPPES

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 9, 5:13 AM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
613 AM CDT SUN JUN 9 2002

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

1220 AM    DEVILS LAKE               ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/09/02   RAMSEY

1224 AM    DEVILS LAKE               ND   1.25 INCH HAIL
06/09/02   RAMSEY

1230 AM    REYNOLDS                  ND   .75 INCH HAIL
06/09/02   TRAILL

0140 AM    5 E WAUBUN                MN   .75 INCH HAIL
06/09/02   MAHNOMEN

0230 AM    GRAND FORKS               ND   FLASH FLOODS
06/09/02   GRAND FORKS                    NUMEROUS CITY STREETS
                                          FLOODED. CARS STRANDED
                                          ALONG UNIVERSITY AVENUE
                                          NEAR THE UNIVERSITY OF
                                          NORTH DAKOTA CAMPUS.

0325 AM    9 NE ADA                  MN   WIND DAMAGE
06/09/02   NORMAN                         SPOTTER ESTIMATED 80 MPH
                                          WIND GUST. 8 TO 10 INCH
                                          DIAMETER TREES DOWN AND
                                          WINDOW BLOWN OUT.

0505 AM    6 SE TWIN VALLEY          MN   .75 INCH HAIL
06/09/02   NORMAN

0605 AM    5 W SYRE                  MN   FLASH FLOODS
06/09/02   NORMAN                         HIGHWAY 113 FLOODED

Special weather statement, Jun 9, 6:18 AM CST, 42 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-091400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
718 AM CDT SUN JUN 9 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA EARLY THIS MORNING AND AGAIN
TONIGHT...

SYNOPSIS...VERY UNSTABLE AIR WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS
THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES WILL RISE TO THE UPPER 80S IN
THE SOUTH AND EASTERN COUNTIES WITH DEWPOINTS APPROACHING 70 DEGREES.
LOW PRESSURE OVER WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA WILL MOVE SLOWLY INTO
SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA BY MONDAY MORNING. COOLER DRIER AIR OVER
WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA WILL BEGIN TO SLOWLY SHIFT EAST THROUGH MONDAY
MORNING.

AREA OF CONCERN...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL OCCUR EARLY
THIS MORNING SOUTH OF A LINE FROM VALLEY CITY ND TO BEMIDJI MN.
ANOTHER SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORM WILL OCCUR SUNDAY NIGHT OVER ALL
OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

TIME...UNTIL 10 AM CDT FOR THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE REGION. THE
SECOND ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AFTER 4 PM.

TYPE OF HAZARD...MAINLY FLOODING. SOME LARGE HAIL AND SOME DAMAGING
WINDS.

HOPPES
NNNN

Special weather statement, Jun 9, 6:20 AM CST, 40 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-101430-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
720 AM CDT SUN JUN 9 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA TODAY AND THIS EVENING...

SYNOPSIS...A WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM NEAR BEMIDJI TO FARGO TO
MOBRIDGE SOUTH DAKOTA.  LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG THE
FRONT TODAY. A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL EXIST OVER THE AREA
TODAY AND THIS EVENING.  THEN AS THE SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE AREA
OVERNIGHT...THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL END.

AREA OF CONCERN...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL OCCUR EARLY
THIS MORNING NORTH OF A DEVILS LAKE TO GRAFTON TO BAUDETTE LINE.
THEN ALL OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA IS UNDER A SLIGHT RISK LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING.

TIME...FROM 7 AM UNTIL 10 AM THIS MORNING...AND THEN AGAIN FROM 3 PM
UNTIL 9 PM THIS EVENING.

TYPE OF HAZARD...LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...AND FLOODING.

RIDDLE

NNNN

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, Norman

When: June 9, 7:00 AM CST to June 30, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Norman forecast zone
Property damage: $3.0 million
Crop damage: $36 million
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.327, -96.455 (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: 5301424.