Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 14, 2009

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 14, 2009
Start: 2009-07-14T15:45
End: 2009-07-14T17:42
Location: Minnesota

July 14, 2009 · NWS FSD · 7 events in 3 counties and zones

Thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds at a few locations in the southwest corner of Minnesota during the late afternoon of July 14th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: 7

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 FSD wrote it up.

Thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds at a few locations in the southwest corner of Minnesota during the late afternoon of July 14th.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 14, 2:18 PM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 14, 2:18 PM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
318 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2009

.DISCUSSION...
STORMS BEGINNING TO FIRE ALONG THE COLD FRONT IN WESTERN CWA AS OF
20Z...AND MAIN QUESTION IS HOW FAR SOUTH THE STORMS WILL DEVELOP
INTO AIRMASS WHICH WAS KEPT MORE STABLE BY BROAD STRATUS MUCH OF THE
DAY. BETTER UPPER SUPPORT WITH WAVE AND WEAK UPPER JET STREAK LOOKS
TO REMAIN OVER CENTRAL/NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA...SO HAVE KEPT
HIGHER POPS NORTH OF SIOUX CITY. FRONTAL TIMING SHOULD MOVE TSRA
CHANCES INTO MAINLY SWRN MN/NWRN IA BY 15/00Z...THOUGH EASTERN TIERS
OF SD COUNTIES COULD SEE ACTIVITY BETWEEN ZFP ISSUANCE AND 00Z...SO
WILL ADD SOME WORDING INTO THE ZFP TO COVER THIS PERIOD. DRIER DEW
POINTS MOVING INTO THE WESTERN CWA BEHIND THE FRONT...AND SHOULD SEE
CLEARING SKIES WEST TO EAST THROUGH THE EVENING.

HIGH PRESSURE TO BUILD OVER THE AREA WED. DRIER AIR IN PLACE AND
SUBSIDENCE WILL PRODUCE CLEAR SKIES TO START THE DAY...BUT CU TO
DEVELOP IN THE MORNING AND HANG AROUND THROUGH MUCH OF THE
AFTERNOON. INCREASED THE WINDS A BIT ABOVE GUIDANCE WED AFT. SHOULD
BE ABLE TO TAP INTO THE 20 TO 30 KT WINDS NEAR THE TOP OF THE BNDRY
LAYER. NO CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION WED...BUT THERE IS A SHOT WED
NIGHT AS S/WV ENERGY RIDES ALONG A MID LEVEL FRONT/MOISTURE
GRADIENT. EXPECTING SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY A THUNDERSTORM AS
INSTABILITY IS RELEASED...BUT MAIN QUESTION IS WHERE THE BEST
CHANCES WILL EXIST. NAM IS NOTABLY FARTHER N THAT THE GFS...
PRODUCING SHOWER ACTIVITY INTO SW MN...WHILE THE GFS IS MAINLY
CONFIDED TO THE MO VALLEY. BY THUR MORNING...BNDRY TO SHIFT CHANCES
FOR PRECIPITATION INTO FAR SE SD AND NW IA. KEPT TEMPERATURES IN NW
IA ON THE COOL SIDE THU FOR MORNING PRECIPITATION CHANCES AND MID
CLOUDS LINGERING INTO THE AFTERNOON.

COOL DRY AIR MASS SETTLES OVER THE AREA FRI AND REMAINS IN PLACE
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SFC HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE THE MAIN WEATHER
FEATURE IN PLACE OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS DURING THIS TIME
PERIOD...WHILE AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL REMAIN ANCHORED OVER THE
GREAT LAKES. THESE FEATURES WILL PROVIDE THE REGION WITH A MUCH
NEEDED BREAK FROM PRECIPITATION. WRN CONUS RIDGE TO FLATTEN OUT
EARLY NEXT WEEK...PRODUCING INCREASING CHANCES FOR
PRECIPITATION.

&&

AREAS OF HIGH END MVFR BKN CIGS /2-3KFT/ STILL POSSIBLE THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON DUE TO DEEP LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AHEAD OF SFC CDFNT AS IT
MOVES EAST ACROSS THE FA THROUGH 04Z. SSWLY WINDS GUSTING AOA 20 KTS
AHEAD OF CDFNT THROUGH 02Z...FLWD BY WNWLY FLOW OF DRIER AND MORE
STABLE AIR BEHIND CDFNT THIS AFTN/EVENING. SCT TSTMS SHOULD DVLPG
ALONG CDFNT WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING...
EXITING FAR EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE FA BETWEEN 02Z-04Z.

&&

.FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...NONE.
MN...NONE.
IA...NONE.
NE...NONE.

&&

97/JH

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 14, 10:43 AM CST, 5 hours 2 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1143 AM CDT TUE JUL 14 2009

SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098-
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-151200-
AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA-
CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE-
DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON-
IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN-
LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN-
OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN-
SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON-
1143 AM CDT TUE JUL 14 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS...
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP LATER THIS
AFTERNOON...PRIMARILY ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM YANKTON TO
BROOKINGS SOUTH DAKOTA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXPAND EASTWARD
INTO SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST IOWA THROUGH THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE
SEVERE WITH HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS...WINDS TO 70
MPH...ISOLATED TORNADOES...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE POSSIBLE BETWEEN 3 PM AND 11 PM...
ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM YANKTON TO BROOKINGS SOUTH DAKOTA.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SIOUXFALLS. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 14, 2:18 PM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
318 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0300 PM     HAIL             4 ENE DE SMET           44.42N 97.47W
07/14/2009  E1.00 INCH       KINGSBURY          SD   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

TRM

Local storm report, Jul 14, 3:18 PM CST, 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
418 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0417 PM     HAIL             3 S BROOKINGS           44.26N 96.79W
07/14/2009  E1.00 INCH       BROOKINGS          SD   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BT

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pipestone

When: July 14, 3:45 PM CST
Where: Pipestone County, 6.69 mi NNW of Cazenovia
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.160, -96.430

Hail, Pipestone

When: July 14, 4:10 PM CST
Where: Pipestone County, 0.5 mi W of Pipestone
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.000, -96.330

Hail, Pipestone

When: July 14, 4:15 PM CST
Where: Pipestone County, 0.5 mi E of Pipestone
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 44.000, -96.310

Thunderstorm Wind, Nobles

When: July 14, 5:13 PM CST
Where: Nobles County, 0.85 mi SE of Wilmont
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Amateur Radio
Coordinates: 43.760, -95.790

Thunderstorm winds caused an unknown amount of tree damage.

Hail, Nobles

When: July 14, 5:25 PM CST
Where: Nobles County, 2.13 mi NNW of Reading
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.730, -95.740

Thunderstorm Wind, Jackson

When: July 14, 5:42 PM CST
Where: Jackson County, 3.07 mi WNW of Okabena
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.740, -95.380

Thunderstorm winds flattened corn. The amount of crop damage was not known. The winds were accompanied by nickel size hail.

Hail, Jackson

When: July 14, 5:42 PM CST
Where: Jackson County, 3.07 mi WNW of Okabena
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 43.740, -95.380

Hail was accompanied by estimated 60 mph wind gusts.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Minnesota in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Minnesota, July 2009

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: 190040, 190038, 190041, 190043, 190045, 190046, 190048.