Flash Flood in Minnesota, June 17, 2003

Name: Flash Flood in Minnesota, June 17, 2003
Start: 2003-06-17T01:30
End: 2003-06-17T01:45
Location: Minnesota

June 17, 2003 · NWS FGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Street flooding up to 2 feet deep was reported along 5th Avenue NW, 20th Street NW, and Central Avenue. 5 feet high.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
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 FGF wrote it up.

Street flooding up to 2 feet deep was reported along 5th Avenue NW, 20th Street NW, and Central Avenue. A car was totalled near Cabelas due to a stopped drain when the water level rose 2.5 feet high.

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 Jun 16, 7:35 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 7:35 PM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
830 PM CDT MON JUN 16 2003.

FORECAST CHALLENGE CONCERNS CONVECTIVE THREAT AND TEMPERATURES.

SCT CONVECTION CONTINUES OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND TO A LESSER
EXTENT OVER WESTERN MN. BAND OF STRONGEST CONVECTION OVER EXTREME
EASTERN ND AHEAD OF N/S BOUNDARY WITH FAVORABLE PARAMETERS SHIFTING
TO FAR SE ND. CONVECTION PROPAGATING EAST VERY SLOWLY RESULTING IN
LOCALIZED POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN. WEAK WAVE AND ASSOCIATED BOUNDARY
SHIFTING SLOWLY EAST AND SHOULD PUSH INTO WESTERN MN OVER THE NEXT
COUPLE OF HOURS. RUC INDICATING LOW LEVEL JET IN 15-25KT RANGE SO
WHILE NOT STRONG MAY BE ENOUGH TO HOLD CONVECTION TOGETHER INTO
EARLY AM HOURS.  AS A RESULT WILL NEED TO KEEP SOME MENTION OF TSRA
HITTING SOUTHERN AREAS HARDEST. LOW TO MID 60 DEWPOINTS COVER NEARLY
ALL OF FA AND RUC SLOW TO MOVE IN DRIER AIR WHICH IS BARLEY INTO FAR
NW FA. MAY NEED TO ADJUST MINIMUM TEMPERATURES UP SLIGHTLY IN SOME
AREAS.

.FGF...NONE.
VOELKER

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 16, 4:39 AM CST, 20 hours 51 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-161345-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
539 AM CDT MON JUN 16 2003

...THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING ACROSS NORTHEASTERN
NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST
CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
ACROSS NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THROUGH MID
MORNING. SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA INTO NORTHWEST
MINNESOTA. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH SEVERE LIMITS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND  PRODUCE ISOLATED OCCURRENCES OF LARGE HAIL ALONG WITH
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REDEVELOP AFTER 3 PM ALONG
AND SOUTH OF A DEVILS LAKE TO HALLOCK LINE...AND MOVE EASTWARD
THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH AROUND MIDNIGHT OVER THE RED RIVER
VALLEY...THOUGH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WILL PERSIST INTO WESTERN AND
CENTRAL MINNESOTA DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.

A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL MOVE SLOWLY THROUGH EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND
EXTREME NORTHWEST MINNESOTA TODAY...AND PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR STORM
DEVELOPMENT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...WITH AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM...ARE
POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING ALONG AND SOUTH OF A BEMIDJI
TO BRECKENRIDGE LINE. BY MIDDAY TUESDAY...THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY
SHOULD BE WELL INTO CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ALSO EXISTS FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS
ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL MOVE INTO THE DAKOTAS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL:

HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/FGF (ALL LOWER CASE)

GUST

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Polk

When: June 17, 1:30 AM CST to 1:45 AM CST
Where: Polk County, East Grand Forks
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 47.774, -96.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Minnesota in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, June 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: 5365973.