1 lightning, 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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 2:15 PM CST, 5 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 315 PM CDT SAT SEP 4 2004 .SHORT TERM... MAIN CHALLENGE IN THE EARLY PERIODS IS STILL HOW FAST TO END PCPN CHANCES ACROSS THE FA. WILL BE A VERY SLOW SYSTEM AND WILL LIKELY NOT DEPART UNTIL UPPER FLOW TURNS MORE ZONAL. MODELS NOT HANDLING CURRENT PCPN VERY WELL AND THINK MODEL QPF SHIFTS EAST TOO FAST... THEREFORE WILL USE A MODEL BLEND FOR THIS FORECAST. TONIGHT...AT 19Z SFC BOUNDARY ALONG A WARROAD TO FARGO TO HANKINSON LINE. THIS POSITION NOT THAT FAR OFF WHAT THE 18Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWED ON FRI...SO FRONT OBVIOUSLY A SLOW MOVER. KMVX 88D SHOWS STRONGEST LINE OF ECHOES JUST MOVING INTO FAR SOUTHWEST FA. IR SATELLITE LOOP SHOWS A GROWING AREA OF COLD TOPS AND SOME LIGHTNING ACTIVITY AS WELL. THIS AREA REMAINS WELL BEHIND THE MAIN SFC BOUNDARY AND CLOSER TO THE ELEVATED 850 MB BOUNDARY. 700-300MB FLOW WILL RIDE THESE STORMS TO THE NORTHEAST THIS EVENING. BETTER AXIS OF SFC BASED INSTABILITY IS OVER THE SOUTHEAST FA. THIS AREA HAS A GOOD MID 60 DEW POINT FEED ON BREEZY SOUTH WINDS. HOWEVER...ATTM THERE IS NO ACTIVITY FIRING ALONG THE SFC BOUNDARY...BUT THIS WILL BEAR WATCHING THRU THE EVENING. WILL GO HIGHER ON PCPN CHANCES (LIKELY) WHERE CURRENT ACTIVITY IS AND WHERE IT WILL PROGRESS TONIGHT. MUCH LESS LIKELY ACROSS THE KDVL REGION (SCATTERED CHANCES). NOT EXPECTING THESE STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE UNLESS THEY CAN GET GOING ALONG THE SFC FRONT. STILL A POSSIBILITY FOR A FEW ELEVATED STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE BUT WILL NOT MENTION IN THE ZONES. AS WINDS FALL OFF LATE TONIGHT...COMBINATION OF RECENT RAIN/LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL RESULT IN SOME PATCHY FOG AS WELL. SUN/SUN NIGHT...FRONTAL BOUNDARY NEARLY WASHES OUT EARLY SUN AND QUESTION IS WHERE IT EXACTLY REFORMS DURING THE DAY. WITH UPPER FLOW STILL OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST AND JET ENERGY STILL TO MOVE THROUGH ...WILL STICK WITH A SLOW EASTWARD DEPARTURE TO THE PCPN. THIS ESSENTIALY KEEPS MOST OF THE FA WITH A CHANCE OF PCPN THRU ALL OF SUN (EXCEPT THE KDVL REGION). WILL FINALLY TAPER CHANCES OFF SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE UPPER FLOW STARTS TO SHIFT MORE ZONAL. LOTS OF LITTLE IMPULSES STILL LOOK TO BE LINED UP UNTIL THE FLOW DOES BECOME ZONAL...SO EVEN THOUGH MODELS MOVE QPF OFF SOONER...FORECAST WILL BE SLOWER. MON/TUE...SFC HIGH STARTS TO PUSH IN BEHIND DEPARTING SYSTEM. TEMPS START TO FALL WITH THE GFS SHOWING THE ZERO 850 MB ISOTHERM MOVING INTO THE NORTH BY 12Z TUE. WILL KEEP THIS PERIOD DRY...BUT WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR COLD POOL SHOWERS ALONG THE BORDER DURING PRIME HEATING. JUST MINOR TWEAKS TO TEMPS...WHICH STAY BELOW NORMAL. .EXTENDED DISCUSSION... LONGWAVE TROF ANCHORS OVR CENTRAL NOAM FOR THE MID TO LATE WEEK PERIOD...WITH CONVECTIVE THREAT INCREASING FOR WED PM INTO THUR. AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE ON THURS A MUCH COOLER AND POSSIBLY SHOWERY PATTERN CLOSES OUT THE WORK WEEK. LONG RANGE SHOWS PERSISTANCE OF DEEP TROF OVR CENTRAL NOAM THROUGH THE COMING WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH A SHIFT BACK TO A REGIME OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPS. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && GODON/GUST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 700 AM CDT SAT SEP 4 2004 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-041430- BARNES-BENSON-CASS-CAVALIER-CLAY-EAST BECKER-EAST MARSHALL- EAST OTTER TAIL-EAST POLK-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-GRAND FORKS- GRANT-GRIGGS-HUBBARD-KITTSON-LAKE OF THE WOODS-MAHNOMEN-NELSON- NORMAN-NORTH BELTRAMI-NORTH CLEARWATER-PEMBINA-PENNINGTON-RAMSEY- RANSOM-RED LAKE-RICHLAND-ROSEAU-SARGENT-SOUTH BELTRAMI- SOUTH CLEARWATER-STEELE-TOWNER-TRAILL-WADENA-WEST BECKER- WEST MARSHALL-WEST OTTER TAIL-WEST POLK-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY- WILKIN- 700 AM CDT SAT SEP 4 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND THE NORTHERN RED RIVER VALLEY TODAY...THEN MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN RED RIVER VALLEY AND THE REST OF NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA FOR THIS AFTERNOON. AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM REMAINS POSSIBLE TODAY...WITH LARGE HAIL THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. FOR TONIGHT...THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER PARTS OF NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA SUNDAY. THE NEXT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA IS EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. NG
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 185 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:06 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike ignited a small fire in the attic of a house.
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: 5425029.