3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Aug 23, 2:30 PM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 330 PM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 .DISCUSSION... TOUGH FCST. LITTLE TO HANG THE HAT ON AS FAR AS MDLS/QPF GO. BASED A LOT OF POPS ON S/W TIMING (VRY DIFFICULT IN SWLY FLO WITH NUMEROUS VORTS) AND SREF POPS...WHICH SEEMED TO AT LEAST LEAN IN THE DIRECTION OF THE OPNL ETA12. TSRAS FIRING IN CLUMPS OVER MUCH OF PLAINS/MS VLY NOW. ONE BKN LINE JUST ENTRING SRN MN MOVG NORTH..ASSOCD WITH NWRD MOVING WF AND VRY SOUPY AIR (LO 70S TD). THESE CUD BE PULSEY SVR FM TIME TO TIME WITH HAIL. MORE TO THE SOUTH AND WEST ASSOCD WITH NEXT S/W. NO TIME TO DISCUSS AS STORMS SHOWING SOME ELEVATED HAIL CORES NOW...BUT EXPECT KS S/W TO LIFT NORTHEAST TONIGHT AND CONT TO AGITATE WF WITH SCT TSRA. ENSEMBLE POPS INCREASE TOWARD MORNING AS S/W INCREASES A BIT IN INTENSITY. WENT LIKELY POPS WITH ARX TO OUR SOUTHEAST FOR SERN/ERN CWA LATE TNGT INTO TOMORROW AM. SFC BNDRY WL WORK INTO WRN CWA TONIGHT AND MAY LIGHT UP TOMORROW AFTN. PARADE OF S/WS AND MEAN FRONTAL ZONE ACRS CWA THRU REST OF SHORT TERM...SO EPIDSODES OF TSRA LIKELY THRU THUR. THE LATEST LONGTERM MODELS...THE GFS AND DFEX STILL INDICATED A BROAD SOUTHWESTERLY AIRFLOW INTO THE MIDWEST THROUGH SATURDAY. THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS STILL INDICATE SOME DISPARITY IN THE RESOLUTION OF THE FORECAST...ON PRECIP CHANCES AND COVERAGE DURING THE PERIOD. WITH WEAK QUASI-STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN THE AREA...CANNOT REALLY TAKE OUT PRECIP COMPLETLY. BY SUNDAY...THE UPPER FLOW REGIME IS FORECAST TO CHANGE TO MORE WESTERLY WITH THE NEXT SHORTWAVE TROUGH NOT TO AFFECT THE UPPER MIDWEST SOMETIME ON MONDAY. WL CONTINUE TO MENTION A CHANCE OF SHRA/TSRA THRU SATURDAY. DRY SUNDAY AND TUESDAY. LOOKING BEYOND TUESDAY...AN UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST ...PROVIDING DRY WEATHER WITH TEMPS MODERATING INTO THE UPPER 70S TO MIDDLE 80S BY MID WEEK. && MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...NONE. WI...NONE. && BINAU/JVM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 500 AM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 MNZ041-042-047>049-054>058-064-065-073-074-082-091-241000- BROWN-CHIPPEWA-DOUGLAS-KANDIYOHI-LAC QUI PARLE-MARTIN-MEEKER-POPE- REDWOOD-RENVILLE-STEARNS-STEVENS-SWIFT-TODD-WATONWAN-YELLOW MEDICINE- 500 AM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS MORNING...HOWEVER THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND POSSIBLY MOVE INTO WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA DURING THE NIGHT. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS OR LARGE HAIL. THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER CHANCE OF STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE IN THE WEEK...ON FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MNZ043>045-050>053-059>063-066>070-075>078-083>085-092-093-WIZ014- 023-024-241000- ANOKA-BENTON-BLUE EARTH-CARVER-CHISAGO-DAKOTA-FARIBAULT-FREEBORN- GOODHUE-HENNEPIN-ISANTI-KANABEC-LE SUEUR-MCLEOD-MILLE LACS-MORRISON- NICOLLET-PIERCE-POLK-RAMSEY-RICE-SCOTT-SHERBURNE-SIBLEY-ST CROIX- STEELE-WASECA-WASHINGTON-WRIGHT- 500 AM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY INCREASING HUMIDITY IS EXPECTED TO SETTLE OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. AN APPROACHING FRONTAL BOUNDARY MAY BRING SOME THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER CHANCE OF STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE IN THE WEEK...ON FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT. WIZ015-016-025>028-241000- BARRON-CHIPPEWA-DUNN-EAU CLAIRE-PEPIN-RUSK- 500 AM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL DEVELOP THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK AS WARM AND HUMID AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA...AND SEVERAL DISTURBANCES MOVE IN ALOFT. WHILE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL REMAIN WEST OF THE AREA THROUGH THE EARLY PORTIONS OF THE WEEK...ACTIVE WEATHER MAY ESTABLISH ITSELF BY THE MIDDLE AND END OF THE WEEK...WITH BOUTS OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY BE SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. MBK
The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:50 UTC.
3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Silver dollar sized hail was reported south of Welcome. Acres of corn and beans were shredded near Highway 263 in a 3 to 4 mile wide area.
Two 1-foot-diameter trees were toppled onto a garage. Corn was flattened by high wind just north of town.
A barbeque grill was blown 35 feet across gravel and crashed into the side of a garage.
Up to 7 inches of rain fell between Canby and Spring Creek between 7 PM and midnight. Highway 59 and Highway 67 were closed in Clarkfield by flooding. Canby hospital was also flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, August 2004
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: 5418724, 5418725, 5418726, 5418727, 5418728, 5418729.