Thunderstorm Wind, Itasca
- When
- July 2, 3:36 PM CST
- Where
- Itasca County, Bigfork
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Reported by
- AMATEUR RADIO
- Coordinates
- 47.750, -93.650
Damaging Wind in Minnesota, July 2, 2003
Large trees were blown over. The top of a tree broke off and fell through the windshield of a man's car.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
- 1
- Property damage
- None recorded
- 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 DLH wrote it up.
Large trees were blown over. The top of a tree broke off and fell through the windshield of a man's car. A branch impaled the 58 year-old man to the car seat.
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 Duluth, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 2, 2:49 PM CST, 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 2:49 PM CST, 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 349 PM CDT WED JUL 2 2003 DISCUSSION WILL BE SHORT DUE TO ANTICIPATED SEVERE WEATHER. NEAR SEVERE MCS NOW INTO NW MN WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD IN MN CWFA. TSRA WILL HOLD OFF IN NW WI UNTIL LATER THIS EVENING AS ATMOSPHERE IS WELL CAPPED. EXPECT MCS TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT OVER THE FA...DIMINISHING AFTER MIDNIGHT IN WESTERN TIER OF FA. BULK OF THE TSRA WILL BE OVER BY 12Z THURSDAY...BUT MAY LINGER IN NW WI. A BREAK IN THE ACTION FOR THE REMAINDER OF THURSDAY AS A PIECE OF SHORT WAVE ENERGY DUE TO ARRIVE IN THE AFTERNOON. TSRA WILL BREAK OUT ONCE AGAIN AND TRAVERSE THE FA IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. EXPECT ANOTHER MCS TO DEVELOP THURSDAY NIGHT OVER MAINLY EASTERN HALF OF FA THURSDAY EVENING AND LINGER INTO NW WI. NO PCPN EXPECTED ON FRIDAY. .DLH...NONE. GSF
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 2, 11:51 AM CST, 3 hours 45 minutes before
MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038-WIZ001>004-006>009-031230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 1251 PM CDT WED JUL 2 2003 ...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN A PORTION OF NORTHEAST MINNESOTA... ...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA AND NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA WEST OF A LINE FROM CRANE LAKE TO GRAND RAPIDS TO BRAINERD FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. TO THE EAST OF THIS LINE...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA AND NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN FOR TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM ALONG A COLD FRONT OVER THE DAKOTAS TODAY AND MOVE INTO WESTERN MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST ACROSS NORTHERN MINNESOTA TONIGHT AND PUSH INTO NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN BY MIDNIGHT. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS LIKELY WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN...SOUTH OF A LINE FROM SIREN TO PARK FALLS FOR THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ELSEWHERE IN NORTHEASTERN MINNESOTA AND NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN THURSDAY AFTERNOON. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. A FEW TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FROM STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS LIKELY WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS. ADDITIONALLY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN NORTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...AND TONIGHT IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST WISCONSIN. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DLH GSF
The radar
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 149 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:35 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in Florida, July 2, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, July 2, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Dakota, July 2, 2003
- Flood in Florida, July 2, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Montana, July 2, 2003
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, July 2, 2003
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in North Carolina, July 2, 2003
- Tornado in South Carolina, July 2, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Florida, July 2, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 2 to 3, 2003
- Tornado in North Carolina, July 2, 2003
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Minnesota, July 2, 2003
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, July 2003
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: 5375781.