North Dakota, 2001

Tornado in North Dakota, July 17, 2001

July 17, 2001 · NWS BIS · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, 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
$500,000
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 17, 2:10 PM CST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 2:10 PM CST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
310 PM CDT TUE JUL 17 2001

HIGH DEWPOINTS AND A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE FORECAST AREA. K
INDEX IS OVER 35 BISMARCK TO JAMESTOWN INDICATING THE POTENTIAL FOR
FLOODING.  WARM MID LEVEL TEMPS SEEM TO BE CAPPING CONVECTION... BUT
THE CAP SHOULD BREAK THIS EVENING AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
LIKELY. A WATCH COVERS MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA UNTIL 7 PM CDT.
THE MODELS SHIFT THE SURFACE LOW TO NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA BY
THURSDAY EVENING...AND THE BEST CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE
NEAR THE LOW WHERE CAPE IS STRONGEST AND GOOD SURFACE MOISTURE
CONTINUES.  WITH THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW REMAINING WEST TO SOUTHWEST
THROUGH THURSDAY...THE LOW SHOULD REDEVELOP IN EASTERN MONTANA AND
AGAIN BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS. MODELS HAVE TRENDED TOWARD
WARMER TEMPS THAN PREVIOUS RUNS...AND WILL ADJUST TEMPS UPWARD MOST
AREAS.

.BIS...NONE.
TSW

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 17, 3:25 PM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND

425 PM CDT TUE JUL 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...

           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0402 PM    GLEN ULLIN                ND   .75 INCH HAIL

07/17/01   MORTON                         REPORTED BY HAM RADIO

                                          OPERATOR.

0407 PM    12 E GLEN ULLIN           ND   1.5 INCH HAIL

07/17/01   MORTON                         REPORTED BY HAM RADIO

                                          OPERATOR.
Local storm report, Jul 17, 4:19 PM CST, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND

519 PM CDT TUE JUL 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...

           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0518 PM    HEBRON                    ND   1.75 INCH HAIL

07/17/01   MORTON                         PUBLIC REPORT
Local storm report, Jul 17, 4:23 PM CST, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND

523 PM CDT TUE JUL 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...

           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0424 PM    10 N TUTTLE               ND   FUNNEL CLOUD

07/17/01   KIDDER

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Stutsman

When
July 17, 4:32 PM CST to 5:21 PM CST
Where
Stutsman County, 20 mi NW of Cleveland
Rating
F2
Path length
20 mi
Path width
880 yd
Property damage
$500,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
47.083, -99.417

The tornado moved southeast out of Kidder county. Numerous sources reported the tornado ranged to 1/2 mile wide at times. The tornado was on the ground for 66 minutes with a total storm path of 29 miles. The tornado remained in open country flattening a total of 64 metal and double high power line towers.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2001Warnings 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: 5256884.