A line of thunderstorms developed along a cold front during the afternoon of June 3rd from Northwest Wisconsin to Southwest Minnesota. The storms produced severe winds, sub-severe hail, and heavy rain over south central Minnesota.
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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.
A line of thunderstorms developed along a cold front during the afternoon of June 3rd from Northwest Wisconsin to Southwest Minnesota. The storms produced severe winds, sub-severe hail, and heavy rain over south central Minnesota.
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 Jun 3, 12:26 PM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 126 PM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 .UPDATE...For 18z Aviation discussion below && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 346 AM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 Thunderstorms ongoing across western WI early this morning will continue eastward through the early morning hours, pushing east of Eau Claire by 6-7 AM. By that time, the forecast area will remain dry for the remainder of the morning. Attention then turns to the incoming frontal boundary, which as of early this morning is just reaching the Minnesota border from the west. This front will progress eastward across the area today, igniting thunderstorms along it this afternoon. Main changes from the previous forecast was to expand the pops westward with the potential for convective initiation along the convergence zone around 18Z. Storms will likely peak in intensity late afternoon given diurnally-driven MLCAPE values of 1000-2000 J/kg peaking during that time along and east of the front. Surface dew points will rise to the upper 50s or lower 60s in this sector but with air temperatures in the upper 80s, soundings indicate a potential inverted V setup, especially farther east which would indicate strengthening cold pools with thunderstorms and hence at least a modest downburst/damaging wind threat. Deep shear in our area is rather unimpressive with better shear values likely to the north given the 500mb vort max dropping southeast from Canada. Still, could see storm clusters capable of producing large hail and taking advantage of the dry low levels to increase momentum in downdrafts. After yesterdays temperatures exceeded essentially all guidance, leaned to the warmer bias corrected ECMWF today. The frontal boundary really will have little affect on airmass temperature today, but is more of a wind shift/convergence zone. So, still plenty of warm air to work with so raised highs a few degrees to widespread upper 80s and lower 90s. Skies will clear behind the front as it moves from west to east, so tonight will see clearing skies behind the storms as they depart to the east. .LONG TERM...(Sunday through Friday) Issued at 346 AM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 With the 03.00 runs, medium range models came into much better agreement on the evolution of the large scale pattern over the next week. We'll start the week with what we have come to know well over the past month, general troughing over the coasts, with ridging over central North America. However, by next weekend, the GFS/ECMWF both show an anomalously strong ridge building east of the MS River as troughing builds down the Rockies. This means southwest flow for us and the return of hot and humid summer weather. For Sunday, the biggest change seen is the upper trough and attendant back door cold front are a bit slower in getting here. This has two implications. First, diurnally driven shower/thunderstorm activity beneath the upper low Sunday afternoon looks to remain mainly north of the MPX WI CWA and two, we'll have one more warm day. Forecast soundings show mixing Sunday building up to between h8 and h75 and mixing up to this level will mean another chance for locations along the MN River Valley to hit 90, with upper 80s into eastern MN and mid 80s over in WI. A mix of bias corrected CONSMOS and ECMWF got our forecast up to what looks reasonable based on expected mixing. Beside warmer temperatures, our dewpoints could end up a bit lower and winds, especially gusts, a bit stronger than what the forecast currently has. Next work week looks pretty quiet as an upper ridge slowly works across central North America. The only feature of significance is a shortwave that is expected to ride around the ridge mid week, coming out of the northern Rockies and heading across southern Canada. There continues to be differences with this feature in the models, with the ECMWF still the fastest and the Canadian likely unrealistically slow. The GFS/ECMWF have come into better agreement on timing, with the front working across the MPX area Wednesday. Covergence looks weak along the front, with the Gulf closed, so not expecting much rain with this front and continue to have mainly 20/30 PoPs working across the area with the front. Temperatures during the course of the week look pretty ho-hum, running a tinge above normal, with highs generally in the upper 70s/lower 80s. A noticeable change is expected in the feel of the air though next weekend. That ridge that will slowly work across central North America during the week will be setting up camp over the southeast CONUS by the weekend, with h5 heights pushing 590 DM over the central Appalachian Mountains. As this happens, a deep trough will build across the Rockies. Our location west of the ridge puts us in southwest flow and opens us up for hot and humid conditions and both the GFS/ECMWF show this happening. This can also be a wet pattern given the anomalously high PWAT air this pattern results in. However, models show us being capped and dry at this point. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Sunday afternoon) Issued at 126 PM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 The front is located roughly along a KRWF to KSTC line. The instability gradient is located from southwest MN to near KMSP into west central WI. Expect isolated-scattered thunderstorm development (broken line) in the next 1-2 hours, gradually spreading east this afternoon and early evening. Other than the thunderstorm activity, conditions will be VFR. Skies clear tonight and winds diminish to below 5 knots, then become gusty from the northwest again by late morning Sunday. KMSP... KMSP is just on the edge of the instability gradient, so the threat for thunder will be limited to the next few hours (until 21z), and higher just south and east of the field. It's more likely during that timeframe for a shower to occur than thunder. /OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/ Mon...VFR. Wind NE 10 kt or less becoming E. Tue...VFR. Wind SE 5 kt. Wed...VFR. Wind SW 5 kt. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. && SHORT TERM...SPD LONG TERM...MPG AVIATION...LS
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN 1255 PM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 MNZ044-045-050>053-059>063-065>070-073>078-082>085-091>093- WIZ014>016-023>028-041800- Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-Chisago-Wright- Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Carver- Scott-Dakota-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue- Watonwan-Blue Earth-Waseca-Steele-Martin-Faribault-Freeborn-Polk- Barron-Rusk-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Chippewa-Eau Claire- 1255 PM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Minnesota...east central Minnesota...south central Minnesota... southeast Minnesota...southwest Minnesota...northwest Wisconsin and west central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop along a frontal boundary this afternoon and progress eastward through this evening. Severe weather is possible, primarily east of the Interstate 94 corridor, but it is not expected to be widespread. The primary threats are for large hail and damaging winds. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Low humidity, warm temperatures, and breezy conditions will lead to elevated fire weather conditions Sunday, primarily from west into south central Minnesota. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN spotter activation may be needed this afternoon and evening. MNZ041>043-047>049-054>058-064-041800- Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Stevens-Pope-Stearns-Lac Qui Parle-Swift- Chippewa-Kandiyohi-Meeker-Yellow Medicine- 1255 PM CDT Sat Jun 3 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Minnesota and west central Minnesota. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Low humidity, temperatures in the upper 80s and lower 90s, and northwest winds of 10-20 MPH will lead to elevated fire weather conditions this afternoon and evening. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday Low humidity, warm temperatures, and breezy conditions will again lead to elevated fire weather conditions Sunday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN spotter activation is not anticipated.
The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:09 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A barn roof was lofted due to severe winds. It was misplaced several feet from the original location of the barn.
A large tree limb was blown down in the city of Albert Lea.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, June 2017
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: 693121, 693123, 693122.