Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Minnesota, May 28, 2002

Name: Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Minnesota, May 28, 2002
Start: 2002-05-28T15:29
End: 2002-05-28T21:20
Location: Minnesota

May 28, 2002 · NWS FGF · 11 events in 5 counties and zones

6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $150,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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 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 May 28, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
250 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 2002

FORECAST CHALLENGE CONCERNS EARLY PCPN CHANCES AND TEMPERATURES.

MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH OVERALL PATTERN THROUGH PERIOD.
IN THE EARLY GOING PREFERRED THE AVN SFC FEATURES HOWEVER AVN NOT
PICKING UP VERY WELL ON SECONDARY SHORT WAVE DROPPING THROUGH
SASKACHEWAN WHICH THE ETA COVERED SO WILL USE MIX FOR GRIDS.

SCATTERED CONVECTION CONTINUES AHEAD SW-NE BOUNDARY OVER EASTERN ND
INTO N CENTRAL MN. CU BAND HAS RECENTLY BEEN BACKBUILDING THROUGH SE
ND ALONG THIS BOUNDARY. AM ALSO SEEING DEVELOPING CU FIELD LIKELY AS
A RESULT OF OUTFLOW FROM CONVECTION FARTHER SOUTH FROM EXTREME SE ND
INTO WEST CENTRAL MN. POSSIBILITY EXISTS FOR THESE BOUNDARIES TO
INTERACT LATER THIS AFTERNOON AS THIS AREA HAS SEEN NEARLY FULL
SOLAR ALL DAY. ALTHOUGH DEEP MOISTURE LACKING WITH CURRENT
INSTABILITY AND EXPECTED CAPE AND APPROACHING SECONDARY WAVE OVER
SOUTHEAST SASK FEEL ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE. AS A RESULT
WILL MAINTAIN CHC OF EVENING TSRA OVER ALL BUT FAR NW PTN.AFTER
EVENING CHANCES OF TSRA FROM VALLY EAST WITH PASSAGE OF MID LEVEL
WAVE SHORT WAVE RIDGE SHIFTS ACROSS FORECAST AREA. COLUMN SHOWING
GOOD DRYING FROM WEST TO EAST. 850MB THERMAL RIDGE REMAINS TO OUR
WEST SO WITH WARM ADVECTION CONTINUING EXPECT MILD MINIMUM
TEMPERATURES.

MORE POTENT WAVE TO AFFECT FORECAST AREA MAINLY DURING AFTERNOON
EVENING HOURS. NOSE OF UPPER JET REACHES MAINLY NORTHERN FA LATE IN
DAY. ASSOCIATED SURFACE BOUNDARY ALSO MORE WELL DEFINED. PRECIPITBLE
WATER IN EXCESS OF AN INCH AND WITH OTHER CONVECTIVE PARAMETERS WILL
SEE SIMILAR RESULTS AS TODAY. THERMAL RIDGE SHIFTS OVER FORECAST
AREA AND CLOUDS WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AFFECT ON TEMPERATURES. WILL
STAY CONSISTENT AND LEAN TOWARDS WARMER FWC/ETA GUIDANCE.

TROUGH PUSHES EAST OVERNIGHT AND WILL MAINTAIN EVENING MENTION OF
TSRA. NO REAL COOLING SO MILD TEMPS AGAIN OVERNIGHT.

REMAINDER OF WORK WEEK LOOKS RELATIVELY RAINFREE AS COLUMN DRIES AND
SFC HIGH WORKS EAST. SLIGHT COOLING IN THE LOWER LEVELS SHOULD
RESULT IN TEMPERATURES MORE TOWARDS SEASONAL AVERAGES FRIDAY.

.EXTENDED...
UTILIZED 12Z AVN THRU 168HRS AS BASIS OF FCST. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE
WILL BE OVER EXITING AREA ON SATURDAY...AHEAD OF NEXT SYSTEM WHICH
APPEARS WILL ARRIVE A BIT FASTER THAN EARLIER THINKING IN FAST
WESTERLY FLOW. WILL INTRODUCE CHC SHRA ON SUNDAY AND CONTINUE IT
INTO MONDAY.  MRF AND AVN TIMING OFF SOMEWHAT...WITH MRF SHOWING
NEXT SYSTEM FAST ON HITS HEELS ON TUESDAY WHILE AVN SLOWER AND LESS
AMPLIFIED.  ATTM WILL LEAVE TUESDAY AS JUST MOSTLY CLOUDY.  85H
TEMPS SUGGEST NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND THIS COVERED WELL IN PREV
EXTENDED.

.FGF...NONE.

VOELKER/RIDDLE

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Clay

When: May 28, 3:29 PM CST
Where: Clay County, Moorhead
Measured: 73 kt (84 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.883, -96.750

A 84 mph wind gust was measured at a MN DOT RWIS site.

Thunderstorm Wind, Clay

When: May 28, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Clay County, Moorhead
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.883, -96.750

Numerous residential fences were blown down and garage doors blown in.

Flash Flood, Clay

When: May 28, 3:30 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where: Clay County, Moorhead
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.892, -96.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Street flooding was reported.

Hail, Clay

When: May 28, 3:50 PM CST
Where: Clay County, 1 mi W of Sabin
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.783, -96.667

Hail, Wilkin

When: May 28, 5:45 PM CST
Where: Wilkin County, 7 mi S of Foxhome
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.183, -96.317

Hail, Otter Tail

When: May 28, 6:10 PM CST
Where: Otter Tail County, 4 mi W of Western
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.150, -96.267

Tornado, Wilkin

When: May 28, 6:18 PM CST
Where: Wilkin County, 1 mi N of Nashua
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.050, -96.317

A brief tornado touchdown was reported north of Nashua.

Tornado, Wilkin

When: May 28, 6:29 PM CST
Where: Wilkin County, Nashua
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.033, -96.317

A brief touchdown was reported at Nashua.

Hail, Grant

When: May 28, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Grant County, 4 mi N of Norcross
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.917, -96.200

Hail, Grant

When: May 28, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Grant County, 5 mi E of Norcross
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.867, -96.100

Hail, Red Lake

When: May 28, 9:20 PM CST
Where: Red Lake County, Plummer
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.917, -96.050

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 The tornado archive for Minnesota, 2002 Warnings in Minnesota, May 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: 5294086, 5294087, 5294178, 5294179, 5294180, 5294181, 5294182, 5294183, 5294184, 5294185, 5294186.