Hail in Minnesota, May 22, 2003

Name: Hail in Minnesota, May 22, 2003
Start: 2003-05-22T16:40
End: 2003-05-22T18:30
Location: Minnesota

May 22, 2003 · NWS MPX · 7 events in 2 counties and zones

7 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 22, 2:40 PM CST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 22, 2:40 PM CST, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
340 PM CDT THU MAY 22 2003

SHOWERS EXTRAPOLATED ACROSS EAST CENTRAL MN BY 23Z-00Z WITH
PRECIPITATION EXPECTED TO EXIT OUR FAR EASTERNMOST WISCONSIN COUNTY
AROUND 07Z.

FURTHER NORTHWEST...COLD AIR ALOFT HAS GENERATED CONSIDERABLE
INSTABLITY WITH TQ VALUES ABOVE 18 OVER NORTHWEST PORTION OF CWA.
VISIBLE PICS SHOW CLUSTER OF BUILDING CU ORIENTED FROM ORTONVILLE TO
PARK RAPIDS. THESE MAY VERY WELL THUNDER BEFORE SUNSET WITH SOME
SMALL HAIL WITH STRONG WINDS.

OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS WE HAVE COLD AIR REINFORCEMENT FROM
CANADA WITH VERY SLOW EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
AXIS. HAD TO SLOW DOWN THE WARM UP TO THE POINT THAT I AM WONDERING
IF IT WILL EVER ARRIVE.

.MSP...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 22, 11:50 AM CST, 4 hours 50 minutes before

MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028-230954-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1250 PM CDT THU MAY 22 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA...AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ACROSS WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
SLOW MOVING AND MAY PRODUCE HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER.  THE
MAIN AREA THAT ARE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THESE THUNDERSTORMS IS THE AREA
ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM LONG PRAIRIE TO WILLMAR TO REDWOOD
FALLS AND SPRINGFIELD.  BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL OF ONE HALF INCH TO ONE
INCH IN ONE HOUR IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 194 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Douglas

When: May 22, 4:40 PM CST to 4:50 PM CST
Where: Douglas County, 4 mi N of Miltona
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.100, -95.300

Hail covered ground.

Hail, Douglas

When: May 22, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Douglas County, 4 mi N of Alexandria
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.933, -95.383

Hail covered ground.

Hail, Douglas

When: May 22, 5:02 PM CST
Where: Douglas County, 5 mi E of Alexandria
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.883, -95.283

Hail, Pope

When: May 22, 5:35 PM CST
Where: Pope County, Villard
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.717, -95.267

Hail, Pope

When: May 22, 5:59 PM CST to 6:10 PM CST
Where: Pope County, Lowry
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.700, -95.533

Hail, Pope

When: May 22, 6:20 PM CST
Where: Pope County, Starbuck Muni Arpt
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: AIRPLANE PILOT
Coordinates: 45.600, -95.533

Hail, Pope

When: May 22, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Pope County, 7 mi SW of Starbuck
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 45.550, -95.617

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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, May 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: 5350770, 5350771, 5350772, 5350773, 5350774, 5350776, 5350775.