A surface low dropped into north central Minnesota, with a trailing cold front to its southeast. A few thunderstorms flared up along the front.
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The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
A surface low dropped into north central Minnesota, with a trailing cold front to its southeast. A few thunderstorms flared up along the front.
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 Jul 9, 1:52 PM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 252 PM CDT WED JUL 9 2008 .SHORT TERM... MAIN 500 MB LOW IN CNTRL MB MOVING TOWARD SE MB EARLY THIS EVENING. SFC TROUGH OUT AHD OF VORT FROM SE MB ACROSS NW MN THEN TO SE ND. HOWEVER...WHILE THIS TROUGH MAY PROVIDE SOME EXTRA LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE...MAIN ISSUE IS ALOFT CONTAINS MANY VARIED SHORT WAVES AND WITH TEMPS WARMING TO NR 80 AND DEW PTS IN THE 50S PRODUCING CAPES IN THE 1000 J/KG RANGE ISOLD CONVECTION WILL OCCUR THROUGH EARLY EVENING JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE IN THE FCST AREA. SATELLITE AND RADAR SHOWS ENCHANCED MID LEVEL BASED CU TVF-FSE AREA AND FROM ROLLA THRU DVL TO JMS. FZVL LEVELS RANGE FROM 10500 FT IN THE NORTH TO NEARLY 12000 FT IN THE SOUTH. BEST BULK SHEAR FOR ORGANIZED SVR POSSIBILITY WOULD BE IN THE NORTHERN AREAS WITH 50-60KTS. ACTION THEN TURNS TO LATE TONIGHT IN WHAT MAY HAPPEN WITH OVERNIGHT CONVECTION. SFC TROUGH WILL DROP SOUTH INTO SRN ND/WCNTRL MN AND THEN REBOUND NORTHWARD A BIT LATE TONIGHT AS 850-700 MB WARM ADVECTION TAKES HOLD. GFS SEEMS A BIT BETTER DEFINED WITH VORTS IN THIS FLOW THOUGH ACTUAL QPF VALUES AND LOCATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. ONE VORT PROGGED TO MOVE THRU ECNTRL ND INTO CNTRL MN 06-12Z PERIOD AND WITH 30-35 KT AT 850 MB NORTH OF SFC WARM FRONT WOULD FEEL DECENT SHOT AT SOME TYPE OF STORMS DROPPING SOUTHEAST OR FORMING NORTH OF THE SFC WARM FRONT WITH HIGHEST POPS LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY THU MORNING DVL-GFK-FAR-PKD- ADC AREAS. ONCE MORNING CONVECTION EXISTS THE AREA...WOULD FEEL LIKE MAJORITY OF THURSDAY WILL TURN OUT PARTLY CLOUDY OR MOSTLY SUNNY AND VERY WARM AND HUMID. COULD BE SOME AFTN CONVECTION ALONG RETREATING WARM FRONT WHICH WILL LIE SOMEWHERE THRU CNTRL ND INTO CNTRL MN BUT WARM TEMPS ALOFT MAY SUPPRESS SFC BASED CONVECTION. BEST BET IS FOR STORMS TO FIRE OVERNIGHT THU NIGHT IN STRONG 925-850 MB WARM ADVECTION ZONE CENTERED FROM MOT-DVL-GFK-FAR-PKD AREA AND NEXT 500 MB SHORTWAVE THAT WILL BE MOVING INTO ALBERTA/WRN SASK. SEE SWODY2. MORNING THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTINUE FRIDAY MORNING...MAINLY INTO MN...THEN QUESTION IS WILL CONVECTION RE-FIRE ALONG COLD FRONT PROGGED TO MOVE THRU THE VALLEY INTO MN MIDDAY-EARLY AFTN. BEST BET IS ERN FCST AREA THRU FRI AFTN...WITH DRIER AIR ADVECTING INTO CNTRL AND ERN ND FRI AFTN. WILL MAINTAIN LOW POPS HOWEVER FOR ISOLD CONVECTION PER COORDINATION AS COLD AIR ALOFT SPREADS INTO CNTRL ND BY 00Z SAT. ANY THREAT FOR PCPN WILL END FRI NIGHT....THEN ON SATURDAY COLD AIR ALOFT WILL MOVE SOUTHWARD BEHIND 500 MB LOW THAT WILL THEN BE JUST NORTH OF INTERNATIONAL FALLS WITH THREAT FOR SCT SHRA/TSRA AT LEAST FOR NE 1/2 OF FCST AREA (DVL-GFK-PKD NORTHWARD). TEMPS MUCH COOLER ON SATURDAY WITH 60S NORTHEAST TO MID 70S SOUTHWEST. .LONG TERM...THE GFS AND CANADIAN MODELS ADVERTISE THAT A COOL NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH REMAINS OVER HUDSON BAY. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOUT 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE WEEKEND. RETURN FLOW WILL SET UP FOR THE START OF THE NEW WORK WEEK AS A SIGNIFICANT RIDGE BUILDS NORTHWARD. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO RETURN ON TUESDAY AS GULF MOISTURE RETURNS TO THE FORECAST AREA. && .AVIATION...WDLY SCT EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. AS STRONG WARM ADVECTION DEVELOPS LATE TONIGHT...A MORE SIGNIFICANT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA DURING THE 09-14Z PERIOD. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && RIDDLE/BRAMER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 640 AM CDT WED JUL 9 2008 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-101145- WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS- WEST MARSHALL-EAST MARSHALL-NORTH BELTRAMI-PENNINGTON-RED LAKE- EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN- SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN- WEST OTTER TAIL-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-TOWNER-CAVALIER- PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON- GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT- RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY- 640 AM CDT WED JUL 9 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN ORGANIZING WARM FRONT MAY BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE OVERNIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE REGION. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS PRODUCING HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT TIME HOURS. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY REACH SEVERE LIMITS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. VOELKER
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 180 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:20 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Nickel to quarter sized hail fell.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, July 2008
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: 125558.