Flood in Minnesota, April 1, 2004

Name: Flood in Minnesota, April 1, 2004
Start: 2004-04-01T00:00
End: 2004-04-01T15:00
Location: Minnesota

April 1, 2004 · NWS FGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

[For more information on the beginning of this flood event, see the March 2004 Storm Data report. The flooding began on March 27th and 28th, and continued into early April].

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: 1

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 happened

The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.

[For more information on the beginning of this flood event, see the March 2004 Storm Data report. The flooding began on March 27th and 28th, and continued into early April]. Flooding problems diminished enough so that the county-wide flood warning was cancelled on the afternoon of April 1st.

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 Mar 31, 7:20 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 7:20 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
720 PM CST WED MAR 31 2004

.DISCUSSION...
01Z MSAS ANALYSIS DEPICTED DEEPENING SOUTHERLY GRADIENT OVER CWFA
AS HIGH PRESSURE DEPARTS TOWARDS THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES. LATEST
SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATED MAIN BAND OF CLOUDINESS IN CONJUNCTION
WITH 90KT SPEED MAX EJECTING NORTHEAST FROM MONTANA INTO SOUTHERN
CANADA. EXAMINATION OF WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED PRONOUNCED UPPER
LEVEL RIDGING AND ASSOCIATED SUBSIDENCE (GOOD DARKENING) NOTED OVER
THE NORTHERN PLAINS.

MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE OVERNIGHT CONCERNS OVERNIGHT LOWS AS
SOUTHERLY PRESSURE GRADIENT HOLDS ITS GROUND AND INHIBITS MERCURY
DROP SOMEWHAT. RH TIME-SECTIONS CONTINUE TO PAINT BONE DRY COLUMN
TONIGHT. WILL MONITOR OBSERVATIONAL TRENDS AND NEW MODEL GUIDANCE
TO LOOK FOR ANY DEVIATIONS FROM CURRENT THINKING.

&&
.HYDROLOGY...
WILL CONTINUE THE CURRENT AREAL FLOOD WARNINGS FOR NE ND AND PARTS
OF FAR NW MN AS SEVERAL ROADS REMAIN CLOSED AND WATER REMAINS HIGH.
RIVER FLOOD WARNING FOR OSLO UPGRADED TO MAJOR FLOODING POTENTIAL
LATE THIS AFTERNOON.
&&

.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...FLOOD WARNING FOR TOWNER/CAVALIER/PEMBINA/BENSON/RAMSEY/WALSH/
     EDDY/GRAND FORKS/GRIGGS/NELSON/STEELE/COUNTIES THROUGH 00Z FRI.
MN...FLOOD WARNING FOR KITTSON/ROSEAU/LAKE OF THE WOODS COUNTIES
     THROUGH 00Z FRI.

&&

BERG

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Lake of the Woods

When: April 1, 12:00 AM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where: Lake of the Woods forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 48.771, -94.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Minnesota in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, April 2004

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: 5392111.