Snowmelt flooding along the Minnesota Tributaries began in mid-April, with a few locations persisting into early May.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 FGF wrote it up.
Snowmelt flooding along the Minnesota Tributaries began in mid-April, with a few locations persisting into early May.
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 Apr 12, 10:49 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 1149 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 .UPDATE... Issued at 1146 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 High clouds over the area Bemidji to Fergus Falls and west with area shifting east as upper ridge moves east. Adjusted sky cover a bit more but no other updates. UPDATE Issued at 1019 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 Updated to remove pops 06z to 09z in far NW cwa (Cando ND). Kept in 09z-12z and highly doubt anything then as flow supports keeping main mid level moisture west and northwest of our area. Tweeked temps a bit on Thursday a bit warmer as HRRR is trending warmer, though HRRR sfc temps may be a bit much with mid 70s Wadena and 60 in GF. UPDATE Issued at 659 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 Updated sky cover to be a bit more cloudy in NW fcst area due to high clouds and then Wednesday daytime a bit more cloudy due to extensive high clouds and some mid clouds. Late tonight into Thu AM some hint at elevated shower chance in SE ND into MN 12z-15z Thu period. We have that covered in slight chc pops and that seems reasonable. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday night) Issued at 231 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 Currently, upper ridge axis is east of our area with southwesterly flow aloft setting up for the next couple of days, with a surface trough slowly pushing southeast out of the southern RRV and WC MN tonight. This surface trough is expected to stall to our south and southeast tonight into Thursday as southwesterly flow aloft and subtle upper height falls promotes poleward flow in the low levels. This poleward transport of low level moisture is beginning to be noticed via ALPW products within the southern and central Plains, even in spite of the cutoff low in the Southeast CONUS. Guidance like NAM3k and FV3 WRF showed some potential for elevated thunderstorms as early as late tonight into early morning Thursday sparked by LLJ/low level WAA overrunning the stalled boundary, however current placement of sufficient moisture content rooted near the LLJ does not appear to be enough to generate convection. Thus we did not include this into the forecast. There still could be some mid/upper level driven showers closer to the international border and/or northeast ND area as early as tonight. Some light showers will be possible during the day tomorrow as upper/mid residual moisture pushes over the area from the exit region of upper troughing over the Intermountain West, but is expected to be very light. Getting into Thursday night, most guidance indicates a mid level wave and LLJ development in the vicinity of the stalled boundary lee of this wave to spark scattered showers and thunderstorms out of SD into ND and NW MN. Some of this convection could produce heavy rain rates between 0.5-0.75 inch per hour, and some small, non-impactful hail can't be ruled out given low freezing heights and marginal but present effective shear. Should there be training of convection, this could have local impacts to flooding potential should rain help rapidly melt lingering snowpack and/or fall on top of frozen/saturated ground. .LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday) Issued at 231 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 Friday through Saturday, upper trough is expected to move east across our region. Initially on Friday into Saturday, shortwave energy will promote scattered to numerous rain showers, with embedded thunder possible. Similar to Thursday night, there is some potential for training of heavier rain rates Friday night into Saturday morning, this time favored in our southern and eastern areas. As the mid level wave moves through the area, there still remains some possibility for rain transitioning to snow Friday night through Sunday. Light snow amounts up to 4 inches remain possible, but impacts are mitigated due to warm surface temperatures especially during the day. Behind the departing trough Saturday, drier and relatively cooler conditions are favored as upper ridging starts to build into the Northern Plains into early next week. Confidence in the synoptic pattern degrades mid to late next week, with ensembles painting either a blocking pattern and upper ridging/dry conditions with milder temperatures back into the region, or progressive pattern with the upper ridging breaking east and more upper troughing nosing into the Plains which would bring more chance for precipitation. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Thursday night) Issued at 1146 PM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 VFR thru midday Thursday with high clouds. North wind turning more northeast into Thurdsay daytime. Increase in low level moisture may lead to MVFR cigs developing Thursday mid afternoon and more so into evening. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && UPDATE...Riddle SHORT TERM...CJ LONG TERM...CJ AVIATION...Riddle
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 400 AM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-130900- 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-Eddy-Nelson-Grand Forks- Griggs-Steele-Traill-Barnes-Cass-Ransom-Sargent-Richland- Western Walsh- 400 AM CDT Wed Apr 12 2023 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota, west central and northwest Minnesota. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday The snowmelt will continue, with daytime highs above freezing each day. Nighttime lows look to be a little more variable through Thursday night, then they should fall below freezing again Friday night and beyond, which would slow the runoff cycle a little. For Thursday through Saturday, there is a potential for showers, even isolated thunder, across portions of the region. This could lead to a quicker snowmelt and runoff in areas where snow remains. River flood warnings have been issued for select locations within the southern Red River Basin. Refer to the latest flood warnings and statements for detailed information on specific locations. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Sabin gage, on the South Buffalo River. Crested at 17.71 ft on April 14th at 13:15.
Dilworth gage, on the Buffalo River. Crested at 24.64 ft on April 16th at 09:15.
Twin Valley gage, on the Wild Rice River. Crested at 11.99 ft on April 14th at 11:45.
Hawley gage, on the Buffalo River. Crested at 9.80 ft on April 14th at 21:15.
Shelly gage, on the Marsh River. Crested at 20.54 ft on April 14th at 22:00.
Crookston gage, on the Red Lake River. Crested at 22.34 ft on April 17th at 14:55.
Warren gage, on the Snake River. Crested at 70.05 ft on April 15th at 06:30.
Hallock gage, on the Two Rivers River. Crested at 807.80 ft on April 17th at 23:15.
Roseau gage, on the Roseau River. Crested at 17 ft on April 15th at 00:45.
Hendrum gage, on the Wild Rice River. Crested at 28.42 ft on April 19th at 18:15. Some missing data near the crest so true peak may not have been captured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 2023
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: 1096987, 1096990, 1096996, 1096988, 1096998, 1097000, 1097001, 1097002, 1097003, 1096997.