Minnesota, 2002

Flash Flood in Minnesota, September 6, 2002

September 6, 2002 · NWS MPX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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
$2.2 million
Crop damage
None recorded
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 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 6, 2:38 AM CST, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 6, 2:38 AM CST, 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
338 AM CDT FRI SEP 6 2002

ONGOING CONVECTION ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWA IS AHEAD OF
APPROACHING SHORT WAVE SEEN IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. RUC SHOWING AREA
IS IN RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE H25 JET WITH PLENTY OF DIVERGENCE
INDICATED. SW LOW LEVEL WINDS NEAR 45 KTS FEEDING IN WITH AMPLE
H8-H7 THETA-E ADVECTION. ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE FOR AWHILE THIS
MORNING ACROSS EASTERN MN. WILL KEEP POPS IN FOR THE DAY IN WEST
CENTRAL WI. PLAN FOR NOW IS TO ALLOW THE FFA TO EXPIRE WITH
WARNINGS/ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT. AFTER THE SHORT WAVE CLEARS
THE WI CWA THIS EVENING... RIDGING AND MUCH WARMER AIR WILL START
SPREADING IN. NO POPS PLANNED TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. WILL INTRODUCE
A CHANCE SUNDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN MN CWA AHEAD
OF THE APPROACHING FRONT. CHANCE POPS FOR MONDAY AS THE FRONT STARTS
TO MOVE ACROSS THE CWA. EXTENDED GUIDANCE INDICATING A SUBSTANTIAL
SURFACE HIGH TO BUILD OVER THE REGION FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.
FOLLOWED GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES PRETTY CLOSELY TODAY DUE TO ONGOING
CONVECTION. WARMEST READINGS ON SATURDAY LOOK TO BE ACROSS FAR
WESTERN AND NORTHERN MN WITH THE H8 THERMAL RIDGE.  IF THINGS WORK
OUT WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CLOUDS...SUNDAY SHOULD BE THE WARMEST
DAY FOR MUCH OF THE CWA WITH LOWER TO MIDDLE 90S EXPECTED AS THE AVN
AND ETA SHOW H8 TEMPERATURES NEAR +24 DEG C FROM FSD TO DLH.

.MSP...NONE.

HILTBRAND

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 5, 11:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1230 AM CDT FRI SEP 06 2002

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

0910 PM    1 N DASSEL                MN   1 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   MEEKER                         EVENT DURATION 30
                                          MINUTES. REPORTED BY
                                          HAM RADIO OPERATOR.

0918 PM    4 W DASSEL                MN   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   MEEKER                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL
                                          NEAR LAKE WAHINGTON.

0918 PM    2 E DASSEL                MN   1 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   MEEKER                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

0932 PM    DASSEL                    MN   1.25 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   MEEKER                         REPORTED BY COOPERATIVE
                                          OBSERVER.

1000 PM    8 SW LONG PRAIRIE         MN   .75 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   TODD                           REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

1011 PM    4 S COKATO                MN   FUNNEL CLOUD
09/05/02   WRIGHT                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER. DISTANCE
                                          APPROXIMATE.

1103 PM    SOUTH HAVEN               MN   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   WRIGHT                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

1114 PM    ST CLOUD                  MN   .88 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   STEARNS                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

1120 PM    ST CLOUD                  MN   1.5 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   STEARNS                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

1124 PM    1 N ANNANDALE             MN   .88 INCH HAIL
09/05/02   WRIGHT                         REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

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, Wright

When
September 6, 3:00 AM CST to 6:00 AM CST
Where
Wright County, Countywide
Property damage
$2.2 million
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
45.174, -93.963 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Three to seven inches of rain fell on waterlogged Wright County, site of several flash floods earlier in the summer. Several creeks and ditches overflowed, including Willow Creek in Buffalo. Water was two to three feet deep over numerous roads. Basements were flooded in homes and businesses. The parking lot of a vehicle dealership flooded, and 80 vehicles sustained damage. Several other vehicles were flooded at a nearby auto repair shop.

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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5320016.