Hail in Minnesota, May 22, 2003

Name: Hail in Minnesota, May 22, 2003
Start: 2003-05-22T15:45
End: 2003-05-22T18:40
Location: Minnesota

May 22, 2003 · NWS FGF · 9 events in 3 counties and zones

8 hail, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 May 22, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 22, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
250 PM CDT THU MAY 22 2003

...MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE CONCERNS POP CHANCES WITH INTERACTION OF
   NEXT SURFACE TROUGH LATE FRIDAY/SATURDAY...

.CURRENT OBSERVATIONAL OVERVIEW...
19Z MSAS ANALYSIS DEPICTED SURFACE TROUGH AXIS FROM WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA TO EXTREME SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. MUCH WEAKER BOUNDARY
WAS SITUATED FROM SOUTHEAST SASK PROVINCE TO NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA.
LATEST WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATED SHORTWAVE ENERGY DROPPING
INTO NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA WHILE FAVORABLE LFQ OF 250MB JET
MAX WAS PUNCHING INTO WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. INSTABILITY/850MB
MOISTURE POOLING WAS OCCURRING AHEAD OF TROUGH FROM EXTREME
SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA TO CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

.FORECAST DETAILS TONIGHT-SUNDAY...
BRIEF RIDGING FROM ONTARIO PROVINCE HIGH SHOULD BUILD IN TONIGHT
BEFORE SURFACE FLOW VEERS MORE SOUTHEAST LATE IN RESPONSE TO
UPSTREAM PRESSURE FALLS WITH NEXT TROUGH OVER SASK PROVINCE.
TROUGH SHOULD SHIFT EAST INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS FRIDAY ALBEIT
SLOW. STRONG LOW-LEVEL RIDGING ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY
SHOULD HOLD ITS STANCE AND FURTHER IMPEDE EASTWARD PUSH OF TROUGH
WITH REMNANTS OF FEATURE IN AN ILL DEFINED FASHION STILL LINGERING
OVER THE EASTERN DAKOTAS LATE SATURDAY. INSTABILITY PARAMETERS
SURFACE BASED/ELEVATED WEAK OR NIL WITH MAIN BRUNT OF MOISTURE
INFLUX AOA 850MB. WILL CONTINUE WITH SHOWER THREAT LATE FRIDAY INTO
SATURDAY AS CONVERGENCE AHEAD OF FRONT PROMOTES ENOUGH LARGE SCALE
ASCENT. HIGH CONDENSATION PRESSURE DEFICITS IN THE LOW LAYERS
SUGGEST INITIAL LIFT MAY BE WASTED SATURATING COLUMN. TROUGH WASHES
OUT SATURDAY NIGHT AS RIDING FROM ONTARIO HIGH ONCE AGAIN BECOME
ESTABLISHED OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS. TRAJECTORY AROUND HIGH SHOULD
HELP TO ENTRAIN DRIER INFLUX OF AIR INTO REGION SUNDAY WITH BETTER
INSOLATION POTENTIAL.

.EXTENDED...
ENSEMBLE SOLUTIONS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT THROUGH MONDAY WITH
DIFFERENCES BEGINNING IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC. ENSEMBLE SET BECOMES
QUITE NOISY THROUGH THURSDAY. MANY OF THE MEMBERS BUILD A RIDGE IN
WESTERN CANADA ON WEDNESDAY WITH A DOWNSTREAM TROUGH OVER THE
NORTHERN PLAINS. UPPER TROUGH CONTINUES TO AMPLIFY ACROSS THE GREAT
LAKES REGION ON THURSDAY HOWEVER MANY OTHER SOLUTIONS WERE ZONAL
ACROSS CENTRAL CANADA. ENSEMBLE MEAN HAS CHANGED LITTLE BETWEEN 12Z
GFS AND OOZ GFS ON DAY 7 HOWEVER THE OPERATIONAL 00Z GFS RUN WAS
MUCH COOLER THAN THE 12Z OPERATIONAL GFS. WILL GO WITH THE ENSEMBLE
MEAN AND ADD A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY.

FGF...NONE

BERG/HOPPES

Hazardous weather outlook, May 22, 5:40 AM CST, 10 hours 5 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-
038-039-049-052>054-221400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
640 AM CDT THU MAY 22 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

GV

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 183 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Hubbard

When: May 22, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Hubbard County, 9 mi S of Lake George
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.067, -95.000

Funnel Cloud, Otter Tail

When: May 22, 4:20 PM CST
Where: Otter Tail County, 4 mi S of New York Mills
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.409, -95.708 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Hubbard

When: May 22, 4:25 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
Where: Hubbard County, 3 mi ESE of Hubbard
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.817, -94.950

The hail piled up 2 inches deep.

Hail, Otter Tail

When: May 22, 4:45 PM CST to 4:50 PM CST
Where: Otter Tail County, 3 mi E of Urbank
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.133, -95.450

The hail was 2 to 3 inches deep.

Hail, Wadena

When: May 22, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Wadena County, 3 mi N of Sebeka
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.683, -95.100

Hail, Wadena

When: May 22, 5:16 PM CST
Where: Wadena County, Sebeka
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.633, -95.100

Hail, Wadena

When: May 22, 5:32 PM CST
Where: Wadena County, 4 mi S of Sebeka
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.583, -95.100

Hail, Hubbard

When: May 22, 6:16 PM CST
Where: Hubbard County, Laporte
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.217, -94.767

Hail, Hubbard

When: May 22, 6:40 PM CST
Where: Hubbard County, 5 mi N of Nevis
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.033, -94.833

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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: 5351838, 5353631, 5351839, 5351840, 5351841, 5351842, 5353628, 5353629, 5353630.