North Dakota, 2001

Tornado in North Dakota, July 3, 2001

July 3, 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

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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 3, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
300 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2001

SFC HIGH ADVANCING FROM THE NW INTO CNTRL ND WITH NWLY WINDS AND
DWPTS IN THE LOWER 50S. ATMOS UNSTABLE ENOUGH IN SWRN/FAR S CNTRL
ND...WITH CAPE VALUES 200-800...TO SET OFF ISOLATED AND ELEVATED
TSTMS THAT BEGAN AFTER SUNRISE AND CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS AFTN
NEAR CNTRL SD BORDER AND MOVE SEWD INTO SD AS THEY GROW STRONGER.
ETA FCST SOUNDINGS ALSO SUGGEST THIS AREA WOULD REACH CONVECTIVE
TEMPS IN THE LOWER 80S...AND CU FIELD BEGINNING TO DEVELOP FROM BIS
TO DIK AND SWD AS TEMPS RISE INTO THE LOW TO MID 80S. WL PUT EVE
POPS IN THIS AREA.

SFC HIGH PUSHES IN ON WED WITH RETURN SELY FLOW IN THE AFTN FAR
WEST. FCST SOUNDINGS SHOW TEMPS IN THE LOW TO MID 80S...BUT
CONVECTIVE TEMPS IN THE UPPER 80S AND IN THE 90S. DRY SFC AIR AND NO
CAPE TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT. ON THU...STRONG SLY FLOW INCREASES SFC
DWPTS AND AFTN CAPES REACH 1000 OR SO...BUT MID LEVEL CAP BUILDS TO
INHIBIT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. ETA HAS +12 TO +14 OVER MUCH OF CWA.
AVN HINTS AT MCS DEVELOPMENT LATE THU NIGHT ACROSS NRN ND AFTER EVE
CONVECTION IN ERN MT. IF CONVECTION DEVELOPS IN NERN MT IT COULD
CONTINUE NORTH OF THE CAP AT THE CANADIAN BORDER...BUT WL LEAVE OUT
CHC TSTMS LATE THU NIGHT FOR ISN AND MOT FOR NOW.

AVN HAS SFC TROUGH IN WRN ND FRI MORNING...AND ADVANCES IT ACROSS
THE STATE ON FRI...SO WL KEEP CHC TSTMS FOR FRI. NEXT HINT OF
CONVECTION IS SAT NIGHT/SUN MORNING FROM THE MRF...BUT ECMWF NOT AS
STRONG WITH THIS SHORTWAVE AND WL NOT MENTION IN EXTENDED. OTHERWISE
H500 RIDGE REMAINS IN PLACE WITH SEASONABLE TEMPS AND MAINLY DRY
WEATHER.

.BIS...NONE.
VINING

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Adams

When
July 3, 3:26 PM CST
Where
Adams County, 12 mi NE of Hettinger
Rating
F0
Path width
40 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.117, -102.450

Briefly touched down in open country.

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: 5256864.