Wildfire, Grand Forks
- When
- April 16, 6:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Grand Forks County, Manvel
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 47.922, -97.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in North Dakota, April 16, 2002
A grass fire was started by an unknown source and rapidly spread due to the dry grasses and gusty winds. It quickly spread into a 10 mile long area and burned 5750 acres of grass, mostly CRP land along the alkali flats in the Red River Valley.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $250,000
- 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 happened
The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
A grass fire was started by an unknown source and rapidly spread due to the dry grasses and gusty winds. It quickly spread into a 10 mile long area and burned 5750 acres of grass, mostly CRP land along the alkali flats in the Red River Valley. The fire was contained only when winds shifted and forced the fire back toward where it had already burned, which essentially was along US Highway 81. The Grand Forks Sheriffs Office evacuated people living north of Grand Forks county road 1 and west of US Highway 81. Firefighters said the fire created an environment of its own, with winds much different than surrounding areas. The fire also created some convection, with returns noted on the Mayville WSR-88D radar. Firefighters also said some firewhirls, or dust devils containing fire plumes, were created.
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 Apr 16, 2:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 2:30 PM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 330 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002 FORECAST CHALLENGE IS PCPN AND SVR WEATHER. CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CONVECTIVE CLOUDS OVER MUCH OF FA...WITH BEST RADIATION NEAR LOW CENTER IN SE ND. WHEN LOOKING AT MSAS SFC PRESSURE ANALYSIS...LOW CENTERED BETWEEN JMS AND FAR...WITH WARM FRONT EXTENDING THROUGH FA ALONG A GFK-TVF-BDE LINE. WHEN COMPARING INITIALIZATION CONDITIONS TO MODELS...ALL MODELS CLOSE...SO USED COMPROMISE FOR FORECAST. SFC LOW CONTINUES MOVING NE ALONG WARM FRONT THIS EVENING TOWARDS BDE BY 06Z WED...TAKING BEST SVR POTENTIAL E WITH IT. AS A RESULT...PRIMARY FOCUS FOR SVR WILL BE EVENING HOURS FOR ALL BUT FAR E FA WHICH COULD CONTINUE THROUGH MIDNIGHT. GOOD COLD AIR ADVECTION (CAA) WRAPPING BEHIND LOW COULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL -SHRASN DEVELOPMENT...SO KEPT CHC POPS IN FULL FA AFTER MIDNIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS INTO FA FOR WED WITH W-SW FLOW ALLOWING TEMPS TO PUSH BACK INTO THE 55 TO 65 RANGE AHEAD OF NEXT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM. NEXT SFC LOW APPROACHES ON WED NIGHT...WITH GOOD Q-VECTOR CONVERGENCE...PRODUCING ENHANCED ZONE OF PCPN N OF LOW IN VCNTY OF 500 MB TROF AND 700 MB LOW. WITH THICKNESS VALUES DROPPING...EXPECT -RASN TO DEVELOP...BUT WITH SFC TEMPS HOLDING IN 35 TO 45 RANGE...WILL KEEP ANY SN ACCUMULATION TO LESS THAN ONE INCH (IF ANY AT ALL) AT THIS TIME FOR THU...THU NIGHT...AND IN E ON FRI MORNING. KEPT CHC -SN FOR N FA ON FRI AS CONTINUE TO SEE CAA UNDER NW FLOW AS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE BUILDS INTO FA FROM NW. .EXTENDED...ECMWF AND CANADIAN ADVERTISING LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING IN ROCKIES SUNDAY AND MOVING INTO NW MN BY 12Z MON WHEREAS AVN AND MRF MOVE SFC LOW INTO SOUTHERN PLAINS. WITH SO MUCH DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN MODELS...WILL NOT CHANGE MUCH IN EXTENDED. WILL ADD SHOWERS MON NIGHT AND TUE AS SFC LOW AND 50H VORT TRACK ALONG BORDER. CURRENT TEMPS LOOK GOOD WITH MINIMAL CHANGES NEEDED TO GRIDS. .FGF...HWO FOR SVR POTENTIAL THIS EVENING FULL FA. NG/PVB
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 16, 2:45 PM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-170900- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 345 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA... SYNOPSIS...SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE PUMPING WARM AND MOIST UNSTABLE AIR INTO THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON. A WARM FRONT DRAPED FROM VALLEY CITY TO GRAND FORKS TO BAUDETTE WILL CONTINUE MOVING NORTHWARD. WARM AIR ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO ERODE THIS AFTERNOON ALLOWING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE...TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA. AREA OF CONCERN...A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY FROM THE RED RIVER VALLEY EAST INTO MINNESOTA. TIME...START AFTER 4 PM AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS. TYPE OF HAZARD...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE MAIN THREATS. AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE SURFACE WARM FRONT. BRIDENSTINE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Texas, April 16 to 17, 2002
- Damaging Wind and High Wind in Kansas, April 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, April 16, 2002
- Heat in Georgia, April 16 to 22, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, April 16, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, April 16, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 16, 2002
- Hail in South Dakota, April 16, 2002
More
Every storm in North Dakota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, April 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: 5285588.