The Minneapolis, MN severe thunderstorm of May 9, 2004

What happened?

On May 9, 2004, a supercell storm got initiated in far eastern South Dakota and moved eastward, dropping large hail, producing tornadoes, and then changing into a bow echo as it approached Minneapolis. See the table below for unofficial storm reports, courtesy of SPC. The table below is incomplete; many more reports were taken, but for the sake of brevity we have included a select few. To see all the reports, go here.

Time (UTC)	Location	What happened
21:29	3 miles S of Watkins, Meeker County	Public report of tornado crossing pasture
21:44	Waverly, Wright County	Possible tornado
21:44	1 mile SW of Monticello, Wright County	Sheriff report of tornado
22:21	Greenfield, Hennepin County	House damaged and garage destroyed; tornado suspected
22:27	5 miles S of Hutchinson, McLeod County	1 inch hail
22:54	St. Paul, Ramsey County	Wind gust to 63 kt (117 km/h)
23:15	North St. Paul, Ramsey County	1 inch hail

RADAR images

Minneapolis RADAR base reflectivity, 0.5 degree scan angle, from 2118Z to 2255Z
Minneapolis RADAR base radial velocity, 0.5 degree scan angle, from 2122Z to 2259Z
Minneapolis RADAR storm-relative radial velocity, 0.5 degree scan angle, from 2126Z to 2303Z
Minneapolis RADAR storm-relative radial velocity, 1.3 degree scan angle, from 2126Z to 2303Z
Minneapolis RADAR vertically integrated liquid (VIL) from 2126Z to 2303Z; values above 40 kg/m³ tend to correlate well with large hail

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The Minneapolis, MN severe thunderstorm of May 9, 2004

What happened?

RADAR images

Last update to this page: May 10, 2004