A frigid cold airmass will bring significantly colder weather across the eastern two thirds of the country early this week. Temperatures will tie or break many records across the Southeast through tonight. Moderate to heavy lake effect snow will continue downwind of the Great Lakes. Gusty winds and dry conditions will support an elevated fire weather threat across the Central Gulf Coast. Read More >
Overview
Significant severe thunderstorms impacted northwest and parts of central North Dakota late Monday evening, July 9th, into the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 10th, 2018. The National Weather Service storm damage assessment team confirmed that an EF2 tornado impacted the Watford City area around 12:45 AM CDT July 10th.
Tornado:
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Tornado - Watford City Area
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The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:
| EF0 Weak 65-85 mph |
EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph |
EF2 Significant 111-135 mph |
EF3 Severe 136-165 mph |
EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph |
EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph |
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Hail/Wind:
On the evening of July 9th, 2018, powerful supercell thunderstorms moved into northwestern North Dakota from northeast Montana and southeast Saskatchewan, Canada. The leading supercell just missed Williston to the north, but trained spotters reported golf ball size hail 6 miles southwest of Grenora and the storm also produced quarter size hail 5 miles northeast of Williston, before weakening. The second storm that would go on to produce the EF2 tornado at Watford City during the early morning hours of July 10th, put down golf ball to tennis ball size hail west of Williston and tennis ball size hail about 12 miles southwest of Bonetrail. While the brunt of this storm skirted Williston to the west, quarter to golf ball size hail was reported within the city limits. Additionally, a 62 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured at Sloulin Field International Airport in Williston with this second storm.
In addition to the tornado, the second storm produced a swath of 75 mph straight line winds across parts of McKenzie County.
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Golf Ball to Tennis Ball Size Hail West of Williston (Photo Credit Unknown) |
Golf Ball Size Hail 10 Miles Northwest of Williston (Photo taken by a Firefighter, Relayed to the NWS via Emergency Manager) | Half Dollar Size Hail in Williston (Photo Taken by Amy Johnson) | Hail From 7 Miles West of Williston (Photo Taken by Emily Wion) |
Photos & Video:
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| Destroyed Manufactured Home - Single Wide, Watford City (NWS Damage Survey Photo) | Destroyed Small Storage Building, Watford City (NWS Damage Survey Photo) |
Wider View of Destroyed Manufactured Homes and RVs, Watford City (NWS Damage Survey Photo) |
Wooden Power Pole, Watford City (NWS Damage Survey Photo) |
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| Initial Supercell Looking Northwest from Williston on the Evening of 7/9/2018. (Photo Taken by Jordan Muir) | Initial Supercell Looking Northwest from Williston on the Evening of 7/9/2018. (Photo Taken by Cindy Lindvig-Getzlaff) | Initial Supercell Looking Northwest from Williston on the Evening of 7/9/2018. (Photo Taken by Amy Patterson-Sanders) | Initial Supercell Looking Northwest from Williston on the Evening of 7/9/2018. (Photo Taken by Tasha Herrin) |
Radar:
Radar Images from the Storms
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| Large-hail-producing supercell thunderstorm north of Williston around 1010 PM CDT | Storm impacting Williston with large hail and strong winds around 1130 PM CDT | Tornado-producing storm impacting the Watford City area around 1245 AM CDT | Event radar loop |
Storm Reports
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0915 PM HAIL 6 SW GRENORA 48.56N 104.03W
07/09/2018 E1.75 INCH WILLIAMS ND TRAINED SPOTTER
HAIL SIZES RANGED FROM DIME TO GOLF BALL.
0915 PM HAIL 9 SSW GRENORA 48.51N 104.04W
07/09/2018 E1.00 INCH WILLIAMS ND TRAINED SPOTTER
CORRECTS PREVIOUS HAIL REPORT FROM 9 SSW
GRENORA. NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL LASTED
FOR ABOUT A MINUTE.
1015 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 5 NW WILLISTON 48.21N 103.70W
07/09/2018 WILLIAMS ND FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
LOCATION APPROXIMATE. FIREFIGHTER WITNESSED
A FUNNEL CLOUD NORTHWEST OF WILLISTON.
RELAYED BY EMERGENCY MANAGER.
1025 PM HAIL 5 NNE WILLISTON 48.21N 103.58W
07/09/2018 E1.00 INCH WILLIAMS ND TRAINED SPOTTER
LASTED JUST A FEW MINUTES. HAIL WAS HEAVIER
JUST NORTH OF SPOTTER.
1038 PM HAIL SPRING BROOK 48.26N 103.46W
07/09/2018 E1.00 INCH WILLIAMS ND BROADCAST MEDIA
1040 PM HAIL 9 WSW BONETRAIL 48.35N 104.00W
07/09/2018 E1.75 INCH WILLIAMS ND TRAINED SPOTTER
HAIL LASTED FOR 20 MINUTES (1030-1050 PM).
BROKEN WINDOW ON THE NORTH SIDE OF HOUSE.
1050 PM HAIL 12 SSW BONETRAIL 48.26N 103.94W
07/09/2018 E2.50 INCH WILLIAMS ND PUBLIC
RELAYED THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA.
1126 PM HAIL WILLISTON 48.16N 103.62W
07/09/2018 E1.75 INCH WILLIAMS ND PUBLIC
RELAYED THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA.
1130 PM HAIL 6 NNE TRENTON 48.16N 103.78W
07/09/2018 M1.75 INCH WILLIAMS ND PUBLIC
1131 PM TSTM WND GST SLOULIN FIELD-INTL APT 48.18N 103.64W
07/09/2018 M62 MPH WILLIAMS ND ASOS
ASOS STATION ISN, SLOULIN FIELD-INTL APT.
1148 PM HAIL 1 E WILLISTON 48.16N 103.60W
07/09/2018 E1.25 INCH WILLIAMS ND EMERGENCY MNGR
1230 AM HAIL ALEXANDER 47.85N 103.64W
07/10/2018 E1.00 INCH MCKENZIE ND PUBLIC
RELAYED THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA.
1234 AM TSTM WND GST ARNEGARD 47.81N 103.44W
07/10/2018 E60 MPH MCKENZIE ND LAW ENFORCEMENT
1245 AM TORNADO 1 SSW WATFORD CITY 47.78N 103.29W
07/10/2018 MCKENZIE ND NWS STORM SURVEY
*** 1 FATAL, 28 INJ ***
TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR AND EYE
WITNESS REPORTS. EXTENSIVE AND SEVERE DAMAGE
AT AN RV / TRAILER PARK ON THE SOUTHWEST
SIDE OF WATFORD CITY. NWS DAMAGE SURVEY
CONFIRMS EF2 TORNADO AND BASED ON THAT
ESTIMATES WIND SPEEDS AROUND 127 MPH. MANY
SINGLE WIDE MANUFACTURED HOMES AND RVS
DESTROYED. POWER POLES SNAPPED. STORAGE
BUILDINGS AND VEHICLES DESTROYED.
WEATHER.GOV/BIS HAS MORE DETAILS. INJURIES
AND FATALITY BASED ON NEWS REPORTS.
1255 AM TSTM WND GST 1 E WATFORD CITY 47.80N 103.26W
07/10/2018 M59 MPH MCKENZIE ND AWOS
AWOS STATION S25, 1 E WATFORD CITY.
1255 AM TSTM WND DMG 1 S WATFORD CITY 47.79N 103.28W
07/10/2018 MCKENZIE ND 911 CALL CENTER
STATE RADIO RELAYED POSSIBLY 30-40 CAMPERS
FLIPPED OVER. TIME ESTIMATED FROM WIND GUST
REPORT AT WATFORD CITY AWOS.
0104 AM TSTM WND DMG WATFORD CITY 47.81N 103.28W
07/10/2018 MCKENZIE ND PUBLIC
POWER LINES DOWN. RELAYED BY BROADCAST
MEDIA.
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