North Dakota, 2001

Flash Flood in North Dakota, July 16, 2001

July 16, 2001 · NWS BIS · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 15, 2:35 PM CST, 10 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 2:35 PM CST, 10 hours 6 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
335 PM CDT SUN JUL 15 2001

...UPDATED FOR FLASH FLOOD WATCH...

ALL 3 MODELS INITIALIZED A VORT MAXIMA IN NORTHWEST SD. ETA/AVN MOVED
IT TO NEAR KBIS BY 18Z WHILE NGM HELD IT BACK OVER SOUTHWEST ND. MAX
IS ILL DEFINED AND HARD TO PICK OUT ON WATER VAPOR SATELLITE...BUT
BEST PLACEMENT BASED ON RADAR WOULD BE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE ABOVE 2
SCENARIOS. WITH THAT WILL LEAN TO ETA/AVN...BUT THEY ARE ONLY IN
AGREEMENT UNTIL THIS EVENING...THEN STRAY ENOUGH TO INFLUENCE THE
FORECAST POPS. AVN WRAPS SURFACE FEATURE UP MORE OVER WESTERN ND AND
BULLSEYES QPF THERE...WHILE ETA KEEPS MORE OF AN OPEN WAVE AND PULLS
HIGH AMOUNTS OF QPF THROUGH THE BISMARCK CWA. I SEE NO GOOD REASON
TO GO WITH EITHER MODEL COMPLETELY...SO WILL COMPROMISE AND BLANKET
THE CWA WITH POPS THROUGH MONDAY MORNING...ENDING SW TO NE ON
MONDAY. AS FOR SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT...HIGH DEWS ACROSS ND
NOW...+60 WITH A LOT OF CONVECTIVE DEBRIS CLOUD LEFT BEHIND ONGOING
CONVECTION. AM THINKING THAT RISK IS GOING MORE TO HEAVY RAIN IN
SOUPY AIR...AND THAT SEVERE RISK IS DECREASING. IF CLEARING CAN WORK
IN BY LATE AFTERNOON THE RISK OF SEVERE WILL INCREASE AGAIN.

NEXT SYSTEM IN LATER TUESDAY IN CONTINUED SOUTHWEST FLOW...AS
H5 LOW MEANDERS OVER THE NORTHERN US/SOUTHERN CANADIAN ROCKIES. AS
H5 LOW PUSHES EAST ND REMAINS IN SW FLOW ALOFT WITH A CONTINUED
CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS. AS FAR AS TEMPERATURES...MAV AND FWC ARE
IN GOOD AGREEMENT ALL EXCEPT ISN ON MONDAY HIGH AND BIS ON TUESDAY
HIGH.

TRAINING OF CELLS OVER SIOUX AND EMMONS COUNTY...FLASH FLOOD WATCH
TONIGHT.

.BIS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SIOUX AND EMMONS COUNTIES IN SOUTH
       CENTRAL ND TONIGHT...NDZ045-046.

JP MARTIN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 15, 10:57 PM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes before
NDZ017-160555-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
1157 PM CDT (1057 PM MDT) SUN JUL 15 2001

SHOWERS WILL DEVELOPE OVER MCKENZIE COUNTY DURING THROUGH 1 AM CDT
(12 AM MDT). AT 1145 PM CDT...LOCAL RADAR IN WILLISTON INDICATED AN
AREA OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINSHOWERS SPREADING OVER SOUTHERN
MCKENZIE COUNTY. THESE SHOWERS WILL SLOWY SPREAD NORTHWARD TO
THE WATFORD CITY AND WILLISTON AREAS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS
AND MAY INCLUDE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS.

MR
Special weather statement, Jul 15, 10:59 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
NDZ017-160555-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
1157 PM CDT (1057 PM MDT) SUN JUL 15 2001

SHOWERS WILL DEVELOPE OVER MCKENZIE COUNTY THROUGH 1 AM CDT (12 AM
MDT). AT 1145 PM CDT...LOCAL RADAR IN WILLISTON INDICATED AN AREA OF
LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINSHOWERS SPREADING OVER SOUTHERN MCKENZIE
COUNTY. THESE SHOWERS WILL SLOWY SPREAD NORTHWARD TO THE WATFORD
CITY AND WILLISTON AREAS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AND MAY
INCLUDE A FEW THUNDERSTORMS.

MR

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Sioux

When
July 16, 12:41 AM CST to 1:41 AM CST
Where
Sioux County, Selfridge
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
46.113, -101.040 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An additional 2 inches of rain fell on top of the 5 to 9 inches of rain recorded earlier in the evening.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 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: 5256875.