For the month of April, 7 counties in MN were in D2 or higher drought.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
For the month of April, 7 counties in MN were in D2 or higher drought.
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 Mar 31, 10:35 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 1135 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - There is a moderate chance for near critical fire weather conditions in eastern North Dakota Tuesday. - There is a chance for near critical to critical fire conditions across eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota on Saturday. && .UPDATE... Issued at 1135 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 Cloud deck from the southwest continues to move into the region this evening. Precipitation chances remain south of the forecast area towards South Dakota. Devils Lake Basin will see few clouds overnight helping to bring temperatures down into the teens. Other areas will see the low to mid 20s thanks to the cloud deck from the southwest. .UPDATE... Issued at 702 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 Plentiful sunshine continues across a majority of the area this evening. Higher level clouds continue to shift into the southern Red River Valley from the southwest this evening and overnight. Mid level cumulus are moving into portions of the northern Devils Lake Basin. Otherwise, a quiet evening with temperatures in the 30s to lower 40s. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 238 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 The cold front will continue to sag southward through the day. Clear skies will develop within its wake. Some areas of cumulus clouds may arise (and have already been observed) but no impacts will arise from this. The next chance for impacts comes Tuesday morning as a cold front sweeps through. Forcing along this front should be enough to develop rain/snow showers, but accumulations will be fairly light due to the progressive nature of this. Still, if there is primarily snow with it, impacts to visibility would be expected. Near critical fire weather conditions may develop across eastern North Dakota Tuesday afternoon. Northerly winds exceeding 20 knots are expected to develop as a jet sags southward through the day. Relative humidity values from ensembles are rather high as expected, however given mixing potential on Tuesday, we've opted to place the 10th percentile for dewpoints. This places relative humidity values closer to the lower 30s which is reasonable. A lot of this hinges on depth of mixing and will be something to watch. Red flag conditions are unlikely to develop as relative humidity values will not fall below 30% for 3 hours or more. The bulk of the remainder of the period will be fairly quiet with a strong signal for increasing temperatures as a ridge pushes over our area. There is a solid signal for near critical to critical fire weather conditions to arise again on Saturday, with a greater potential to push into Red Flag criteria. This signal encompasses the entire area, although how far east this goes hinges on how we melt the snowpack through the week. Still, NBM relative humidity values are already in the low 30s, which likely will be overestimated, so this will be a timeframe to watch for the potential first RFW of the season. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1135 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 VFR conditions continue through the TAF period, with a scattered cloud deck shifting in from the southwest. FAR may see BKN coverage overnight, but VFR ceilings. GFK, TVF, BJI, and DVL will be FEW to SCT through the overnight period. Light and variable winds turn southerly post 17z for all sites. BJI will be delayed southerly winds till post 00z. Clouds clear out by the mid morning hours. BKN cloud deck moves into DVL, TVF, and GFK end of the TAF period as snow showers work their way down from Canada. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && UPDATE...Spender DISCUSSION...Perroux AVIATION...Spender
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 233 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-011945- 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- 233 PM CDT Sun Mar 31 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota, west central and northwest Minnesota. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday There is a moderate chance for near critical fire weather conditions Tuesday afternoon in eastern North Dakota. There is also a chance for near critical to critical fire weather conditions across eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota this weekend. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
For the month of April, Hubbard county was in D2 drought.
For the month of April, Kittson county was in D2 drought.
For the month of April, Lake of the Woods county was in D2 drought.
For the month of April, Beltrami county was in D2 drought.
For the month of April, Beltrami county was in D2 drought.
For the month of April, Roseau county was in D2 drought.
For the month of April, Wadena county was in D2 drought.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, April 2024
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: 1169215, 1169216, 1169217, 1169218, 1169219, 1169220, 1169221.