Hail in the Twin Cities: May 3, 2015

Hailstones from the May 3, 2015 storm at Maplewood north of St. Paul.
Hailstones from the May 3, 2015 storm at Maplewood north of St. Paul.
Courtesy: MNDNR State Climatology Office
A sunny and warm Sunday gave way to building thunderstorms that moved across the Twin Cities. There were many reports of hail in the penny to quarter size in the northern metro area, with a few larger reports. The largest hail report found was golfball-sized near Stillwater. There were also reports of hail piling up like snow on the ground several inches deep and some of the hail was still lingering on the ground 12 hours later.

The rain was a welcome sight but most places saw less than a half inch of rain in the Twin Cities. A few places saw more including .76 inches in northern Fridley. The Twin Cities International Airport only saw .05 (five hundredths of an inch) of rain. A heavier band of rain moved across southeast Minnesota and also dropped some large hail near Albert Lea, Austin and Rochester. Rochester saw .66 of an inch of rain and Harmony in Fillmore County saw 1.04 inch of rain. The rain missed the driest sections of the state in northwest, north central and and west central parts of Minnesota.

Below are storm reports from the National Weather Service. 
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
912 PM CDT SUN MAY 03 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0418 PM     HAIL             NWS CHANHASSEN          44.85N 93.57W
05/03/2015  M1.50 INCH       CARVER             MN   NWS EMPLOYEE

0430 PM     HAIL             4 E EDEN PRAIRIE        44.85N 93.38W
05/03/2015  M0.50 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0439 PM     HAIL             1 W BLOOMINGTON         44.83N 93.34W
05/03/2015  M0.50 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   PUBLIC

0442 PM     HAIL             1 NW ROGERS             45.21N 93.57W
05/03/2015  M0.50 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0443 PM     HAIL             PRIOR LAKE              44.73N 93.43W
05/03/2015  E0.50 INCH       SCOTT              MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0444 PM     HAIL             4 W BLOOMINGTON         44.83N 93.40W
05/03/2015  E0.50 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0448 PM     HAIL             3 SW HANOVER            45.13N 93.70W
05/03/2015  M0.88 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0453 PM     HAIL             SAVAGE                  44.76N 93.36W
05/03/2015  M0.88 INCH       SCOTT              MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0459 PM     HAIL             4 ENE LAKEVILLE         44.67N 93.17W
05/03/2015  M0.50 INCH       DAKOTA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            4 INCHES DEEP.

0500 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 N PLYMOUTH            45.10N 93.46W
05/03/2015                   HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            WINDOWS BLOWN OUT.

0500 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 SE HUDSON             44.96N 92.73W
05/03/2015                   ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            8 INCH TREE BRANCH DOWN

0508 PM     HAIL             5 W DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLI 44.99N 93.37W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

            GOLDEN VALLEY

0510 PM     HAIL             1 SSE ROBBINSDALE       45.01N 93.33W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   COCORAHS

0511 PM     TSTM WND GST     CRYSTAL AIRPORT         45.08N 93.38W
05/03/2015  M56.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   MESONET

0512 PM     HAIL             4 NNW DOWNTOWN MINNEAPO 45.02N 93.31W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0514 PM     HAIL             2 NNW DOWNTOWN MINNEAPO 45.00N 93.29W
05/03/2015  M1.25 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0514 PM     HAIL             4 NNW DOWNTOWN MINNEAPO 45.03N 93.31W
05/03/2015  M1.50 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0515 PM     HAIL             1 NE DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOL 44.99N 93.26W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0518 PM     HAIL             1 N NORTH MINNEAPOLIS   45.03N 93.27W
05/03/2015  M1.25 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0523 PM     HAIL             1 SE ROBBINSDALE        45.02N 93.32W
05/03/2015  M0.75 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0525 PM     HAIL             3 S COLUMBIA HEIGHTS    45.00N 93.28W
05/03/2015  M0.88 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   AMATEUR RADIO

0525 PM     TSTM WND GST     3 S COLUMBIA HEIGHTS    45.00N 93.28W
05/03/2015  M60.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   AMATEUR RADIO

0527 PM     HAIL             1 SW CRYSTAL            45.03N 93.37W
05/03/2015  E1.00 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0530 PM     HAIL             3 NE ROSEVILLE          45.04N 93.11W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       RAMSEY             MN   AMATEUR RADIO

0532 PM     TSTM WND GST     3 NE HUDSON             45.00N 92.70W
05/03/2015  M55.00 MPH       ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

0533 PM     TSTM WND DMG     HUDSON                  44.97N 92.74W
05/03/2015                   ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TWO INCH DIAMETER FLAG POLE SNAPPED OFF TWO FEET ABOVE
            GROUND.

0535 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 E BLAINE              45.17N 93.12W
05/03/2015                   ANOKA              MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREE DOWN IN LINO LAKES...JUST WEST OF MARSHAN LAKE.

0543 PM     HAIL             1 S WHITE BEAR LAKE     45.05N 93.01W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       RAMSEY             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0545 PM     HAIL             2 SSE STILLWATER        45.04N 92.81W
05/03/2015  M1.75 INCH       WASHINGTON         MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0545 PM     HAIL             1 WSW LITTLE CANADA     45.02N 93.10W
05/03/2015  M1.25 INCH       RAMSEY             MN   COCORAHS

            5 INCHES DEEP

0550 PM     HAIL             4 E ELLSWORTH           44.73N 92.41W
05/03/2015  M0.75 INCH       PIERCE             WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

0551 PM     TSTM WND GST     1 S HUDSON              44.95N 92.74W
05/03/2015  M50.00 MPH       ST. CROIX          WI   AMATEUR RADIO

            I-94 MILE MARKER 4

0553 PM     HAIL             2 N HUDSON              45.00N 92.74W
05/03/2015  M1.25 INCH       ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

0555 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 N BALDWIN             44.98N 92.37W
05/03/2015                   ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            20 INCH TREE DOWN

0556 PM     TSTM WND GST     MAHTOMEDI               45.06N 92.96W
05/03/2015  E60.00 MPH       WASHINGTON         MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0608 PM     HAIL             1 NNW COTTAGE GROVE     44.84N 92.93W
05/03/2015  M1.00 INCH       WASHINGTON         MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

0610 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 NNW HAMMOND           45.00N 92.45W
05/03/2015                   ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SHINGLES BLOWN OFF ROOF

0610 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 NNW HAMMOND           45.00N 92.45W
05/03/2015  M55.00 MPH       ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

0615 PM     HEAVY RAIN       HUDSON                  44.97N 92.74W
05/03/2015  E1.90 INCH       ST. CROIX          WI   TRAINED SPOTTER

            FELL IN 19 MINUTES
Last modified: May 4, 2015
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