North Dakota, 2002

Tornado in North Dakota, August 11, 2002

August 11, 2002 · NWS BIS · 1 event in 1 county or zone

northeast. One farmstead was totally destroyed and the second farmstead suffered moderate damage.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$650,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS BIS wrote it up.

The tornado formed 5 miles north of Medina, over open country, traveling slowly to the north...northeast. One farmstead was totally destroyed and the second farmstead suffered moderate damage. No injuries were reported but a family pet was killed.Other damage reported was a 9 ton grain truck moved 250 feet and destroyed, three other vehicles moved 150 to 250 feetand heavily damaged, and a farm tractor picked up and laid on top a farm pickup truck. Also destroyed were 5 transmissiontowers with a cost replacement of $200 thousand. The tornado was rated by National Weather Service Storm Survey Team.

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 Aug 11, 1:30 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 1:30 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
230 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

CONCERNS ARE NORTHWARD EXTENT OF SEVERE CONVECTION DEVELOPING OVER
SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND WINDS BEHIND COLD
FRONT.

STRONG MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE MAKING ITS WAY TOWARDS CWA AND FORECAST TO
MOVE TO THE EAST AND STRENGTHEN. AT SURFACE PREFRONTAL TROUGH NOW
THORUGH BISMARCK WITH COLD FRONT WEST OF KMOT...KN60 TO KD06 IN SOUTH
DAKOTA. CONVECTION FIRING RAPIDLY BETWEEN TROUGH AND COLDFRONT. SEVERE
CONVECTION WILL MOVE EAST BUT CLOUD COVER NORTH OF KN60 TO KDVL LINE
WILL LIMIT AVAILABLE ENERGY FOR SEVERE CONVECTION. TO THE SOUTH 60+ TDS
PULLED NORTH AS LOW PRESSURE DEEPENS OVER WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. CAPES
OF 2000 J/KG FROM 18Z GOES SOUNDERS OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. WILL
LIKELY BE ABLE TO CUT KBIS ZONE GROUP OUT OF SEVERE THREAT BEFORE ZONE
DEADLINES. SOUTHEAST ZONES WILL CONTINUE UNDER THREAT.

REST OF AFD POSPONED DUE TO DEVELOPING CONVECTION.

.BIS...NONE.
HW

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 11, 2:45 PM CST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND

345 PM CDT SUN AUG 11 2002

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

           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0344 PM    5 NE MEDINA               ND   1 INCH HAIL

08/11/02   STUTSMAN                       REPORTED BY MEDIA.

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Stutsman

When
August 11, 3:00 PM CST to 3:20 PM CST
Where
Stutsman County, 5 mi N of Medina
Rating
F4
Path length
1 mi
Path width
300 yd
Property damage
$650,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
46.950, -99.300

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 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2002Warnings in North Dakota, August 2002

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: 5310099.