Hail and Lightning Strike in North Dakota, September 17, 2003

Name: Hail and Lightning Strike in North Dakota, September 17, 2003
Start: 2003-09-17T10:40
End: 2003-09-17T15:30
Location: North Dakota

September 17, 2003 · NWS FGF · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

1 hail, 1 lightning, 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: 1
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 Sep 17, 8:57 AM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 8:57 AM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
950 AM CDT WED SEP 16 2003

...CORRECTED TYPO ON KDVL LOW...

LOTS OF THINGS TO WATCH FOR THE MORNING UPDATE. MAIN CONCERN REMAINS
THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL THRU THE DAY AS EASTERN FA REMAINS IN A
SLIGHT RISK. RIGHT NOW SEVERE POTENTIAL SEEMS SOMEWHAT QUESTIONABLE
...MAINLY DUE TO THE THICK CLOUD DECKS OVER THE DAKOTAS. DO NOT
REALLY SEE ANY AREAS THAT HAVE A POTENTIAL TO BREAK OUT AND GET ANY
SFC HEATING GOING. ON THE OTHER HAND...GARDEN VARIETY THUNDERSTORMS
ALREADY STARTING UP AGAIN ALONG THE NEARLY STATIONARY FRONTAL
BOUNDARY EXTENDING FROM KPIR TO KHCO. SAID COLD FRONT WILL ONLY INCH
EAST TODAY AS UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM STARTS TO CATCH UP. SO WILL SEE
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO RIDE NORTHEAST ALONG THE FRONT ALL DAY.
WILL BE A WIDE VARIATION AGAIN IN HIGH TEMPS (LIKE TUE). MAY HAVE TO
LOWER TEMPS ACROSS THE KDVL REGION...WHERE THEY ONLY GOT TO 64 TUE
UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS. AT THIS POINT...DO NOT PLAN ON GOING ANY
WARMER ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST FA DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER.
LAST CONCERN WILL BE WIND SPEEDS. THINK WE WILL REMAIN CLOSE ENOUGH
TO THE FRONT TODAY TO NOT SEE THE TRUE BRUNT OF THE WIND. MAY HAVE
TO INCREASE SPEEDS ACROSS THE FAR EAST AND FAR WEST INTO AT LEAST
BREEZY...MAYBE EVEN WINDY.

.FGF...NONE.

GODON

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 17, 5:45 AM CST, 4 hours 55 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-171330-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
645 AM CDT WED SEP 17 2003

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWEST
AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND PARTS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH COULD BE SEVERE...ARE EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE INTO
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY THIS EVENING. THE MAIN
SEVERE WEATHER THREATS ARE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL.

A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH IS DRAPED ACROSS THE AREA WILL PROVIDE THE
FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE
MOVES INTO THE REGION ALONG THE FRONT FROM SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

NG

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:41 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Richland

When: September 17, 10:40 AM CST
Where: Richland County, 2 mi W of Galchutt
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.383, -96.850

Lightning, Grand Forks

When: September 17, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, Grand Forks
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.922, -97.457 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A woman leaving work was struck by lightning as she walked to her car. She suffered no visible injuries, but was taken to the emergency room for observation. She later reported seizure-like muscle twitches.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Dakota in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in North Dakota, September 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: 5375189, 5375190.