1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 8, 1:50 PM CST, 4 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 250 PM CDT THU AUG 08 2002 A COLD FRONT IS MOVING EAST THROUGH A MOIST AIR MASS OVER ND. ALSO SHORT WAVES AHEAD OF AN UPPER TROUGH WILL ADD INSTABILITY TO ALREADY HIGH CAPES IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ND THIS EVENING...AND THERE IS A CHANCE OF SUPER CELL STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL. HEAVY RAIN SEEMS THE MAIN THREAT OVER THE NORTH SINCE ETA MODEL SHOWS 1000-500 MB RH ABOVE 70 PERCENT. THE CURRENT FRONTAL POSITION EXTENDS FROM EAST OF MINOT THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE STATE. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...THUNDERSTORMS WILL TRAIN NORTH ALONG SLOWLY MOVING NORTH/SOUTH LINES TO CAUSE ANOTHER CHANCE OF HEAVY RAIN. THE MAIN UPPER TROUGH OVER WESTERN MONTANA WILL BECOME A CLOSED LOW THIS EVENING AND MOVE EAST AND BE CENTERED IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THIS FEATURE MOVES EAST OUT OF THE REGION SATURDAY...BUT ANOTHER LARGER TROUGH DIVES SOUTHEAST INTO THE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY FOR A RENEWED CHANCE OF CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION. THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE EXTENDED FORCAST WILL BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF NORTHWEST FLOW WITH A REDUCED CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. .BIS...NONE. LM
NDZ001-009-017-082345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND 545 PM CDT (440 PM MDT) THU AUG 8 2002 ...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA... AT 540 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH WERE SCATTERED FROM NEAR WOLF POINT TO NEAR WIBAUX MONTANA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE INTO WESTERN MCKENZIE COUNTY. TROTTERS IS IN THE PATH OF THE STORMS. THEY WILL BE MOVING NORTHEAST AND CROSSING HIGHWAY 16 IN RURAL WESTERN MCKENZIE COUNTY. IF STORMS MOVE INTO YOUR AREA MOVE INSIDE. JP MARTIN
NDZ001-009-017-090030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND 620 PM CDT (520 PM MDT) THU AUG 8 2002 ...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD WILLISTON NORTH DAKOTA... AT 620 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH WERE ALONG THE MONTANA AND NORTH DAKOTA BORDER...BETWEEN THE MISSOURI RIVER AND INTERSTATE 94. THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT NEARLY 40 MPH. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WILLISTON...ALONG THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER BETWEEN FAIRVIEW AND CARTWRIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST IN THE WILLISTON AREA BETWEEN 7 AND 8 PM CDT. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WIND SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. IF STORMS MOVE INTO YOUR AREA GET INSIDE...AWAY FROM WINDOWS. JP MARTIN
NDZ025-037-048-051-090015- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 700 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002 ...NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REPLACES OLD ONE IN A PORTION OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA... THE NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 585 UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN NORTH DAKOTA REPLACES THE PREVIOUS WATCH 584 IN STUTSMAN... EDDY...LAMOURE AND DICKEY COUNTIES. RSL
NDZ001-009-017-090130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND 720 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002 ...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA... AT 720 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH WERE SCATTERED ALONG A LINE FROM NEAR FORTUNA...TO THE WILLISTON AREA...TO NEAR WATFORD CITY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST 35 MPH. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WILLISTON. IN ADDITION TO THE HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WIND SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE. LIGHTNING CAN BE A KILLER...IF STORMS MOVE INTO YOUR AREA GET INSIDE...AWAY FROM WINDOWS. CROSBY...TIOGA...KEENE...AND THE WEST PART OF LAKE SAKAKAWEA ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS. JP MARTIN
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 135 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:42 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Damage ranged from broken windows and numerous small trees down. A barn just outside of Hettinger was destroyed by the wind.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, August 2002
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: 5309998.