Damaging Winds in North Dakota, August 5, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds in North Dakota, August 5, 2001
Start: 2001-08-05T03:30
End: 2001-08-05T05:30
Location: North Dakota

August 5, 2001 · NWS FGF · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

3 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $21,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Aug 5, 1:50 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 1:50 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
250 AM CDT SUN AUG 5 2001

FORECAST CONCERNS CONTINUED HEAT/HUMIDITY HEADLINES AND TSRA CHANCES
EARLY IN FCST PERIOD.

CONTINUE TO FAVOR ETA WHICH HAS HAD A LITTLE BETTER HANDLE ON LOW
LEVEL FEATURES.

SOUTHERN EDGE OF CANADIAN MCS HAS PROPAGATED SOUTHWARD INTO EXTREME
NORTHERN FA AS A RESULT OF 50KT LOW LEVEL JET FROM KMVX-88D AND
INSTABILITY MAX OVR NORTHERN MN. WILL MONITOR TRENDS FOR PSBL EARLY
AM MENTION OVER THIS AREA. WILL ALSO NEED TO WATCH BAND OF AC WHICH
HAS DEVELOPED SOUTHWARD IN ADVANCE OF PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH IN ZONE OF
MOIST FLUX OVR CENTRAL ND.

UPPER RIDGE TO CONTINUE TO FLATTEN AS NEXT SHORT WAVE APPROACHES FA
DURING DAY. SFC LOW CENTERED OVER NORTH CENTRAL ND WITH TRAILING
COLD JUST THROUGH NW CORNER OF ND...PREFRONTAL TROUGH THROUGH
CENTRAL ND AND E-W WARM FRONT THROUGH EXTREME SOUTHERN MB INTO OT.
ETA TRENDING SLOWER ON FROPA THROUGH FORECAST AREA AND ASSOCIATED
LOW LEVEL DRYING. AS A RESULT LOOKS TO BE ANOTHER HOT MUGGY DAY WITH
SIMILAR CONDITIONS TO PAST TWO DAYS AND WILL CONTINUE HEAT ADVISORY
FOR ALL BUT FAR NW ZONE SET WHICH WILL BE FIRST TO SEE AFFECTS OF
POST FRONTAL LOW LEVEL DRYING. AS RIDGE FLATTENS WITH NEXT WAVE MID
LEVELS COOL ACROSS NORTH HALF OF FORECAST AREA WITH SOUTHERN
SECTIONS STILL LOOKING WELL CAPPED. ALSO FAVORABLE MID LEVEL SHEAR
ACROSS NORTH AND RESIDUAL LOW LEVEL BOUNDARIES FROM EARLY AM
CONVECTION. QUESTION REMAINS WITH HIGH CONVECTIVE TEMPS WILL
CONVECTION FIRE BEFORE BOUNDARY EXITS EASTERN AREAS. WILL BE CLOSE
BUT TO BE SAFE WILL PUT BEST POPS ACROSS NORTH AND FAR EAST WITH
LESSER RISK ACROSS SOUTH HALF.

RELIEF FROM HEAT AND HUMIDITY TONIGHT AND MONDAY AS DRIER LOW AIR
PUSHES FROM WEST TO EAST AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES INTO FA. WILL
MAINTAIN EVENING TSRA MENTION ACROSS EASTERN AREAS. WITH LOWERING
THICKNESS/850MB TEMPS WILL BE MORE TOLERABLE HEAT WISE. WILL TREND
TOWARDS SLIGHTLY COOLER MAV TEMPS. RETURN FLOW SETS UP RATHER
QUICKLY LATE MONDAY WITH WK BOUNDARY H8 THETA-E RIDGE THROUGH
CENTRAL ND LATE. SFC BOUNDARY WEAK AND MID LEVEL SUPPORT FOR ANY
LATE NIGHT TSRA LACKING HOWEVER WILL MAINTAIN SLIGHT POP AND LET DAY
SHIFT GET BETTER LOOK AT POSSIBILITIES.

THX BIS...DLH AND MSP FOR COORDINATION.
.FGF...HEAT ADVISORY TODAY FOR ALL BUT DVL AREA.

VOELKER

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Griggs

When: August 5, 3:30 AM CST
Where: Griggs County, Cooperstown
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 47.450, -98.117

Branches were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Grand Forks

When: August 5, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, 5 mi W of Northwood
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.733, -97.667

Half the roof of a quonset was torn off along with its doors. Shingles were torn off the home and trees were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Grand Forks

When: August 5, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Grand Forks County, 3 mi N of Northwood
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 47.783, -97.567

50 trees were blown down.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Dakota in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Dakota, August 2001

Sources

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: 5265226, 5265227, 5265228.