North Dakota, 2003

Hail in North Dakota, May 3, 2003

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

6 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
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 May 3, 9:05 AM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 9:05 AM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1005 AM CDT SAT MAY 3 2003

CHALLENGE FOR UPDATE WILL BE CONVECTION AND TEMPS

ELEVATED SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDER MOVING INTO DVL REGION...IN
ASSOCIATION WITH 30KT 850MB JET...500MB SHORTWAVE AND SHOWALTERS
NEAR 0. THIS AIRMASS WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EAST DURING THE
AFTERNOON...WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
MOISTURE IN ELEVATED LAYER IS FAIRLY WEAK...BUT WITH SOME DECENT
LIFT WITH SHORTWAVE WILL LEAVE AS THUNDER FOR NOW. TEMPS WILL BE
TRICKY WITH EASTERN AREAS SEEING MOST SUN AND WILL BE WARMEST HERE.
WILL TWEAK GRIDS SOME TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS. OTHERWISE...NOT MUCH
OVERALL CHANGE NEEDED TO GRIDS AND ONGOING FORECAST.

.FGF...NONE

KELLENBENZ
Hazardous weather outlook, May 3, 6:47 AM CST, 5 hours 33 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-031400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
615 AM CDT SAT MAY 3 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.  SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON OVER
PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...BUT THEY WILL BE BELOW SEVERE
LIMITS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.  A STRONG STORM
SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS WEEKEND...AND BE NEAR
SIOUX FALLS MONDAY.  THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL SPREAD WIDESPREAD RAIN
TO SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA SUNDAY INTO
MONDAY WITH A LESSER THREAT FOR RAIN OVER NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

RIDDLE

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:18 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Benson

When
May 3, 12:20 PM CST
Where
Benson County, 4 mi NE of St Michael
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.983, -98.600

Hail, Ramsey

When
May 3, 12:25 PM CST
Where
Ramsey County, 4 mi W of Crary
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.067, -98.717

Hail, Steele

When
May 3, 1:25 PM CST
Where
Steele County, Finley
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.517, -97.850

Hail, Steele

When
May 3, 1:40 PM CST
Where
Steele County, 7 mi E of Finley
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.517, -97.700

Hail, Steele

When
May 3, 3:00 PM CST
Where
Steele County, 2 mi E of Sharon
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.600, -97.850

Hail, Benson

When
May 3, 6:35 PM CST
Where
Benson County, 12 mi NW of Maddock
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.083, -99.717

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

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, 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: 5351832, 5351833, 5351834, 5351835, 5351836, 5351837.