2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
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
BINAUPRELIMINARY 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 La Crosse radar (KARX), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:59 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Four to seven inches of rain within a few hours resulted in water out of several creeks and over a number of roads. A street and culvert were washed out in New Auburn, with one or two homes flooded.
Four to seven inches of rain within a few hours resulted in several creeks out of their banks. Water flooded six roads, from Big Bend township (the Island Lake area) to Grant and Grow townships (a few miles south and southeast of Ladysmith).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wisconsin in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Wisconsin, September 2002
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: 5319969, 5319970.