Minnesota, 2003

Flash Flooding and Hail in Minnesota, June 22, 2003

June 22, 2003 · NWS FGF · 6 events in 3 counties and zones

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

  • 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 2:05 PM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 2:05 PM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
305 PM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003

MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE REMAINS CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL THROUGHOUT THE
EARLY PERIODS. MODELS REMAIN IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT ALTHOUGH WILL
LEAN MORE TOWARD THE ETA.

QUITE A BIT OF CONVECTIVE CLOUD DEBRIS REMAINS ACROSS THE NORTHERN
PLAINS...HOWEVER TEMPS PUSHING MID 70S TO AROUND 80 ACROSS THE FA.
THIS RIGHT AROUND CONVECTIVE TEMP FOR MOST AREAS. SFC BOUNDARY STILL
LYING STATIONARY ACROSS THE FA...ALTHOUGH QUITE A BIT WEAKER THAN
SAT. HOWEVER LOW/MID LEVEL QUASISTATIONARY WARM FRONT RIGHT ALONG
THIS BOUNDARY AND IS EVIDENT ON SATELLITE IMAGERY. ENTIRE FA REMAINS
IN SPC SLIGHT RISK AREA AND STORMS ARE STARTING TO FIRE ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN FA. THIS AREA IN FAVORED INSTABILITY AXIS AND POOLING
MOISTURE (DEW POINTS IN THE MID-UPPER 60S). 500 MB WIND SPEEDS ALSO
REMAIN IN THE 50KT RANGE LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING AND
WILL HELP AID STORM DEVELOPMENT. UPPER JET/WEAK WAVES ALSO PUNCHING
INTO THE WESTERN DAKOTAS. UPPER FLOW STILL FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND
WILL ALLOW ANY STORMS THAT FIRE TO THE SOUTH OF THE FA TO DRIFT NNE.
THIS WILL CONTINUE THE HEAVY RAIN THREAT OVERNIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE
TO MENTION IN GRIDS.

HARD TO ELIMINATE ANY PCPN CHANCE THROUGHOUT THE EARLY PERIODS.
MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE THE PERSISTENT FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS
THE AREA WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. MAY BE SOME BREAKS IN THE PCPN
BUT AS MODELS CONTINUE TO SLOW EASTWARD MOVEMENT...WILL JUST
BROADBRUSH AND MATCH SURROUNDING OFFICES FOR NOW. BEST THUNDER
CHANCES SLOWLY MOVE EAST...WITH THE KDVL REGION POSSIBLY THE ONLY
REGION TO EITHER SEE LITTLE OR NO PCPN OR ONLY SHOWERS. MADE FEW
CHANGES TO GRIDS OTHERWISE. WILL KEEP DISCUSSION SHORT AS TORNADO
WATCH JUST ISSUED.

MFR SHOWS RRV IN SPLIT BETWEEN NORTHWESTERLY AND SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW
ALOFT WITH SFC HIGH FEATURED IN NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING BY WEDNESDAY
EVENING.  THIS IS THE PRELUDE TO A LONG DRY SPELL WITH FAIR WEATHER
AND MODERATE TEMPERATURES UNTIL SUNDAY...WHEN UPPER AIR BRINGS
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW BACK TO THE RRV AND ASSOCIATED CHANCE OF THUNDER
AND RAIN FOR THE END OF THE WEEKEND AND THE START OF THE WORK WEEK.

.FGF...NONE.

GODON/LUKES
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 22, 5:25 AM CST, 10 hours 50 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-221430-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
625 AM CDT SUN JUN 22 2003

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EXTREME
EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS
AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT. SEVERE STORMS MAY DEVELOP OVER SOUTHEAST
NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AFTER 1 PM LIFTING NORTHEAST
FROM THE RED RIVER VALLEY EASTWARD INTO MINNESOTA DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE OVER
EXTREME SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA INTO WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE LOCALIZED HEAVY
RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY
THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AS AN AREA
OF LOW PRESSURE REMAINS NEARLY STATIONARY FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS TO
THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES. THE FAVORED AREA FOR THUNDERSTORMS LOOKS TO
BE OVER THE SOUTH HALF OF THE REGION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT.

VOELKER

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Clay

When
June 22, 4:15 PM CST
Where
Clay County, 1 mi S of Downer
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.733, -96.483

Tree limbs were blown down.

Hail, Grant

When
June 22, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Grant County, 4 mi W of Hoffman
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
45.833, -95.883

Hail, Grant

When
June 22, 5:19 PM CST
Where
Grant County, Hoffman
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
45.833, -95.800

Thunderstorm Wind, Clearwater

When
June 22, 6:00 PM CST
Where
Clearwater County, 15 mi S of Bagley
Measured
65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
47.300, -95.400

A 20 inch diameter tree was blown across Highway 92.

Flash Flood, Clay

When
June 22, 6:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where
Clay County, 1 mi E of Glyndon
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
46.892, -96.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The MN Highway Patrol reported water over Highway 10.

Flash Flood, Clay

When
June 22, 6:00 PM CST to 6:30 PM CST
Where
Clay County, Moorhead
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
46.892, -96.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Street flooding was reported in south Moorhead.

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.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5367683, 5367684, 5367685, 5367963, 5367964, 5367965.