Hail in Minnesota, September 5, 2002

Name: Hail in Minnesota, September 5, 2002
Start: 2002-09-05T20:10
End: 2002-09-05T22:40
Location: Minnesota

September 5, 2002 · NWS MPX · 12 events in 5 counties and zones

11 hail, 1 funnel cloud, 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 12

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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 5, 2:15 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 2:15 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
315 PM CDT THU SEP 5 2002

HAVE DECIDED TO HOIST FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF WI
COUNTIES WHICH HAVE SEEN BACKBUILDING STORMS ALL DAY. RAINFALL
AMOUNTS SOON TO BE EXCEEDING FFG VALUES...AND AM CONCERNED WITH S/W
STILL TO WEST WITH ELEVATED CONVECTION NOW FIRING WEST OF THE METRO.
STEEP LAPSE RATES OVER AREA...AS SUN HAS ALLOWED TEMPS INTO THE MID
80S AND DEWPOINTS WELL INTO THE 60S. PLENTY OF INSTABILITY BOTH SFC
AND ALOFT FOR S/W TO CONTINUE TO PRODUCE CONVECTION. WIND FIELDS NOT
ALL THAT GREAT...WITH WEAK MID LEVEL WINDS...SO SVR THREAT NOT ALL
THAT HIGH. THESE WEAK MID LEVEL WINDS THOUGH CONCERN ME FOR +RA
THREAT GIVEN ETA BUFR STORM/STORM ELEMENT MOVEMENTS. THOUGHTS ECHOED
IN LATEST SWODY1 AND EARLIER SPENES. SFC BASED INSTABILITLY LIKELY
NOT REALIZED AS HOT PROD IN LOW LEVELS NUDGING IN...BUT ENOUGH
ALOFT. HATE TO ISSUE WATCH GIVEN MANY +RA MECHANISMS NOT IN
PLACE...BUT...HEAVY RAIN ALREADY FALLEN...AND WITH SLOW MOVING
STORMS ALREADY ON RADAR...SEE NO REASON TO HOLD BACK. LLJ DOES
MAINTAIN ITSELF OVERNIGHT...ALBEIT MEAKLY...WITH 25 TO 30KTS AT H9
AND H8. THIS WILL CONTINUE TO WAA REGIME AHEAD OF SLOWING/SHEARING
MID LEVEL WAVE WANDERING INTO MEAN RIDGE ALOFT. UPR JETS WAY UP
NORTH AND WEST...YET ETA LAYER DIVERGENCE MAXES OVER CNTL MN...SEEMS
LIKE SOME FEEDBACK ISSUES. REGARDLESS..PWATS INCREASING TO 1.50 TO
1.75 WHICH IS ALMOST 200% OF NORMAL. ZONES TREND CHANCE OF RAIN
DOWN TO THE SOUTH AND WEST TONIGHT...WHERE WAVE ALREADY MOVING THRU.

AFTER TONIGHT...SOME OF THE WARMER TEMPS OF THE SUMMER ON THE WAY
FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. WILL EVEN BE TOASTY ON FRIDAY AS STRONG
POSITIVE H85 TEMP ANOMALY MOVES ACROSS WRN MN. LARGE SCALE FLOW
PATTERN KEEPS RIDGE IN EAST AND SHARP TROF IN WEST. S/W ENERGY
EJECTING FROM THIS TROUGH WILL MAINLY INTERACT WITH WARM FRONT ALONG
INTL BORDER UP NORTH. ALL MDLS BRING IN SOME PRETTY SERIOUS
CAPPING...WITH THERMAL RIDGE BUILDING INTO WRN MN BY WEEKEND.
H100-H5 THICKNESSES SUPPORT TEMPS WELL INTO THE 90S IN WEST WITH
BREEZY SLY FLOW. IF SFC FLOW BECOMES DRIER/MORE SWLY...EVEN WARMER
TEMPS THAN ALREADY PRESCRIBED COULD BE SEEN. WILL KEEP THINGS
SUNNY/CLEAR AND HOT THRU WEEKEND WITH CAPPING WELL IN PLACE. BNDRY
TRIES TO MOVE INTO WRN MN SAT NIGHT...BUT FEEL THIS IS TOO QUICK
GIVEN RIDGING ALOFT AND BELT OF STRONGER FLOW WELL NORTH AND WEST OF
AREA.

ENERGY FINALLY FLATTENS RIDGE EARLY NEXT WEEK BRINGING PRECIP/COOLER
TEMPS.

.MSP...FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT
       WI ZONES 14>16...AND 23/25/27

BINAU

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 5, 3:54 PM CST, 4 hours 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
454 PM CDT THU SEP 05 2002

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

0440 PM    WHITE BEAR LAKE           MN   WIND DAMAGE
09/05/02   RAMSEY                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.  LARGE TREE
                                          BRANCH BLOWN DOWN.

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:08 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Meeker

When: September 5, 8:10 PM CST
Where: Meeker County, Dassel
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.083, -94.317

Hail, Meeker

When: September 5, 8:10 PM CST to 8:40 PM CST
Where: Meeker County, 1 mi N of Dassel
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates: 45.100, -94.317

Hailed on and off for 30 minutes.

Hail, Meeker

When: September 5, 8:18 PM CST
Where: Meeker County, 4 mi W of Dassel
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.083, -94.400

Hail, Meeker

When: September 5, 8:18 PM CST
Where: Meeker County, 2 mi E of Dassel
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.083, -94.283

Hail, Meeker

When: September 5, 8:32 PM CST
Where: Meeker County, Dassel
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.083, -94.317

Hail, Todd

When: September 5, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Todd County, 8 mi SW of Long Prairie
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.883, -94.983

Funnel Cloud, Wright

When: September 5, 9:11 PM CST
Where: Wright County, 4 mi S of Cokato
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.174, -93.963 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Distance approximate.

Hail, Wright

When: September 5, 10:03 PM CST
Where: Wright County, South Haven
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.300, -94.217

Hail, Stearns

When: September 5, 10:14 PM CST
Where: Stearns County, St Cloud
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.567, -94.167

Hail, Stearns

When: September 5, 10:20 PM CST
Where: Stearns County, St Cloud
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.567, -94.167

Hail, Wright

When: September 5, 10:24 PM CST
Where: Wright County, 1 mi N of Annandale
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.283, -94.133

Hail, Sherburne

When: September 5, 10:40 PM CST
Where: Sherburne County, Elk River
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.300, -93.583

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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, September 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: 5320119, 5320120, 5320121, 5320122, 5320123, 5320124, 5320125, 5320130, 5320126, 5320127, 5320128, 5320129.