928 first-hand accounts of flood events in Minnesota, ranked by impact. Each is a NOAA-written narrative of the moment.
A one in 500 year rainfall hit northeast Minnesota and far northwestern Wisconsin June 19th and 20th. An east to west front stalled just south of the area, across southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin early on June 19th: There was high humidity and record-breaking heat to…
Read the full account →A stationary front set up across southern Minnesota on the evening of September 22nd. As an unusually moist air mass flowed over this boundary, heavy rain developed and fell repeatedly across the area during the evening and overnight hours.
Read the full account →3 to 6 inches of rain fell during the night of May 31 into the morning hours of June 1, causing widespread flash flooding. Hardest hit was Spring Valley (Fillmore County), where residents of 25 homes had to be evacuated and people in 3 homes were rescued by boat.
Read the full account →A line of severe thunderstorms moved across southeast Minnesota during the late afternoon of July 19th. These storms produced two EF-1 tornadoes. The first touched down in the Chester Woods Park near Chester (Olmsted County) and did extensive tree damage in the park.
Read the full account →3 to 6 inches of rain fell during the night of May 31 into the morning hours of June 1, causing widespread flash flooding. Hardest hit was Spring Valley (Fillmore County), where residents of 25 homes had to be evacuated and people in 3 homes were rescued by boat.
Read the full account →A warm front lifting northward into Iowa triggered round after round of thunderstorms with excessive rainfall across southeast Minnesota during the evening and overnight hours of August 18-19. This was after rain had fallen earlier in the day.
Read the full account →Five to 13 inches of rain fell across South Central Minnesota between 5 PM on the 14th and 5 AM on the 15th. This amount of rainfall caused widespread major flooding in Freeborn, Steele, Faribault, and Martin counties.
Read the full account →Storms intensified during the mid afternoon hours, as temperatures climbed into the mid to upper 80s with dew points in the 70s. These storms continued through the early evening hours, producing large hail, damaging wind gusts, and very heavy rain.
Read the full account →Early morning thunderstorms along a nearly stationary front, dumped heavy rain on parts of southeast Minnesota on August 22nd. The heavy rain produced flash flooding in Rochester (Olmsted County) that snarled the morning commute by flooding numerous intersections and sent water…
Read the full account →A small complex of thunderstorms developed across central Minnesota, and moved southeast across the northern Twin Cities Metro area and produced locally four to six inches of rainfall in less than 4 hours.
Read the full account →A small complex of thunderstorms developed across central Minnesota, and moved southeast across the northern Twin Cities Metro area and produced locally four to six inches of rainfall in less than 4 hours.
Read the full account →Thunderstorms developed across western Minnesota the afternoon of Tuesday, August 16th. These thunderstorms continued to develop eastward across central Minnesota, and into east central Minnesota, and west central Wisconsin.
Read the full account →During the late afternoon of July 21st, a stationary boundary set up across northeast North Dakota. Temperatures north of the boundary were generally in the low to mid 80s, while to the south they were in the mid 80s to low 90s.
Read the full account →Two to four inches rain fell on saturated ground. The most severe damage occured in Santiago (Sherburne County), where a dike along County Road 11 gave way and allowed water to come crashing into town.
Read the full account →Isolated severe storms near Redwood Falls and Albert Lea moved northeast across east central and southeast Minnesota during the early morning hours of Sunday, June 23rd.
Read the full account →Several rounds of thunderstorms developed Thursday late afternoon and evening, June 20th, mostly in west central Minnesota, and moved eastward.
Read the full account →Several rounds of thunderstorms with heavy rain moved across southeast Minnesota from the early morning hours of September 21st into the morning of the 22nd. The heavy rain led to flash flooding across portions of Mower, Fillmore, Houston and Winona Counties.
Read the full account →Water levels on the Mississippi River rose to near record levels due to a combination of snow melt runoff and heavy rains. In fact, only the all-time flood of record in April 1965 produced higher water than that recorded in April 2001.
Read the full account →NWS Cooperative weather observers reported nearly 2.5 inches of snow water content in the snowpack, after a winter with above average snowfall. A heavy rainfall event on the 7th of April brought 1 to 2 inches of rain to the Red River basin, adding to the snowmelt flooding.
Read the full account →A warm front lifting northward into Iowa triggered round after round of thunderstorms with excessive rainfall across southeast Minnesota during the evening and overnight hours of August 18-19. This was after rain had fallen earlier in the day.
Read the full account →A strong storm system, in combination with deep moisture from the remnants of a tropical system, produced a large area of flooding rainfall with amounts as high as 8 and 11 inches in an 18 hour period.
Read the full account →Overland flooding and the Wild Rice River forced the evacuation of Ada. This town of 1,500 people was evacuated on April 7th by the National Guard. Helicopters were called in to help save stranded families around Norman county.
Read the full account →A strong storm system, in combination with deep moisture from the remnants of a tropical system, produced a large area of flooding rainfall with amounts as high as 8 and 11 inches in an 18 hour period.
Read the full account →Extremely heavy rains fell in a short period of time across Cook and Lake Counties between about midnight and 6 am. The majority of the rain fell close to the Lake Superior shore centered near Grand Marais.
Read the full account →