Gradient winds gusting up to 45 MPH downed trees and branches in McLeod, Goodhue, and Dakota counties. In McLeod County power lines were damaged in 4 locations across Hutchinson.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 episode as NWS MPX wrote it up.
Gradient winds gusting up to 45 MPH downed trees and branches in McLeod, Goodhue, and Dakota counties. In McLeod County power lines were damaged in 4 locations across Hutchinson. One downed power line started a brush fire just north of town along Highway 15. In Goodhue County a 30 foot tall tree was downed along East 11th Street in Zumbrota. In Dakota County 1000 customers lost power after branches fell onto power lines in Hastings.
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 Sep 15, 10:15 AM CST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 1115 AM CDT WED SEP 15 2004 .DISCUSSION... DEEPENING SFC LOW FARTHER EAST THAN PROGGED. WITH BRIEF BREAK IN CLOUD COVER...CAPE APPROACHING 1000 J/KG WITH MINIMAL CIN RIGHT ALONG SFC TROF OVR ERN MN FORECAST AREA. IN AREA OF CLEARING...SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE INCRD RAPIDLY TO BTWN 20 AND 30 KTS WITH WIND GUSTS TO 40KTS. TIGHTENING PRES GRADIENT WITH IMPRESSIVE PRES RISE COUPLET OF 4 TO 8 MB. MAY NEED TO ISSUE WIND ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVE IN SOME AREAS. WL WATCH CLOSELY NEXT HOUR. SEVERE WX THREAT MAINLY OVER MNZ078 INTO SRN WI. NEED TO BOOST TEMPS SLIGHTLY IN ERN AREAS AS WELL. && MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...FLOOD WARNING UNTIL 23Z MNZ078-085-091>093. WI...NONE. && MBK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 1137 AM CDT WED SEP 15 2004 MNZ041>045-047>052-054>061-064>069-073>077-082>084-161100- ANOKA-BENTON-BLUE EARTH-BROWN-CARVER-CHIPPEWA-DOUGLAS-HENNEPIN- ISANTI-KANABEC-KANDIYOHI-LAC QUI PARLE-LE SUEUR-MCLEOD-MEEKER- MILLE LACS-MORRISON-NICOLLET-POPE-REDWOOD-RENVILLE-RICE-SCOTT- SHERBURNE-SIBLEY-STEARNS-STEVENS-SWIFT-TODD-WASECA-WATONWAN-WRIGHT- YELLOW MEDICINE- 1137 AM CDT WED SEP 15 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MID AFTERNOON. WIND SPEEDS WILL REACH 20 TO 30 MPH WITH A FEW GUSTS TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE. A WIND ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING IN SOME AREAS...IF WIND SPEEDS REMAIN AROUND 30 MPH OR HIGHER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MNZ078-085-091>093-161100- FARIBAULT-FREEBORN-GOODHUE-MARTIN-STEELE- 1137 AM CDT WED SEP 15 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM FOR THE AREA FROM FAIRMONT THROUGH ALBERT LEA AND BLOOMING PRAIRIE. MANY ROADWAYS REMAIN INUNDATED WITH WATER DUE TO VERY HEAVY RAINFALL THAT OCCURRED LAST NIGHT. IN ADDITION...THE MIDDLE FORK AND THE NORTH BRANCH OF THE MIDDLE FORK OF THE ZUMBRO RIVERS MAY RISE ABOVE BANKFULL IN THE PINE ISLAND AREA. HENCE A FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA AS WELL. IN ADDITION...STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP OVER THE ZUMBROTA...CANNON FALLS AND RED WING AREAS THROUGH MID AFTERNOON. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL AS AN ISOLATED TORNADO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MNZ053-062-063-070-WIZ014>016-023>028-161100- BARRON-CHIPPEWA-CHISAGO-DAKOTA-DUNN-EAU CLAIRE-PEPIN-PIERCE-POLK- RAMSEY-RUSK-ST CROIX-WASHINGTON- 1137 AM CDT WED SEP 15 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF FAR EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP ACROSS PARTS OF FAR EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA INCLUDING THE EASTERN TWIN CITIES AS WELL AS WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD RAPIDLY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS AND A TORNADO. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DIMINISH BY THIS EVENING. ALSO...STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON. SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SOUTHWEST AT 20 TO 30 MPH. A FEW GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. A WIND ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING IN SOME AREAS...IF WIND SPEEDS REMAIN AROUND 30 MPH OR HIGHER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MBK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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, September 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: 5421984, 5421982, 5421983.