North Dakota, 2003

Tornadoes and Hail in North Dakota, June 27, 2003

June 27, 2003 · NWS FGF · 12 events in 5 counties and zones

8 tornado, 4 hail, 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 27, 12:50 PM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 27, 12:50 PM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
150 PM CDT FRI JUN 27 2003

FORECAST CONCERNS WILL BE CONVECTIVE CHANCES AND TEMPS

.OVERVIEW...
SFC BOUNDARY AND UPPER LEVEL ENERGY CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTHEAST INTO
WESTERN FORECAST AREA. THUNDERSTORMS STARTING TO DEVELOP ACROSS MOST
OF CENTRAL INTO SOUTHEASTERN ND. MODELS IN GENERALLY GOOD AGREEMENT AND
LIKE ETA MOISTURE/TEMPS PROFILES SO WILL USE.

.TONIGHT...
WITH UPPER LEVEL VORTICITY MAXIMUM AND JET ENERGY OVERSPREADING
REGION TONIGHT...THUNDER WILL BE LIKELY EVERYWHERE TONIGHT WITH
FAVORABLE PARAMETERS FOR SEVERE STORMS AS WELL. SEVERE STORMS
POSSIBLE UNTIL AROUND 06Z...AND WILL WORD AS SUCH IN GRIDS.
TEMPS TO FALL INTO MID 50S EAST AND NEAR 50 FAR NORTHWEST.

.SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
EXPECT CONTINUE CYCLONIC FLOW AND LI/S BY AFTERNOON AROUND -3C...SO
WILL MENTION THUNDER CHANCES ALL DAY IN EAST AND EVERYWHERE IN
AFTERNOON WITH TEMPS RISING INTO LOW/MID 70S WITH WARMER TEMPS
ALOFT. WEATHER PATTERN SHOULD DRY OUT SAT NIGHT THROUGH
MONDAY...WITH WARMING TREND ABOVE NORMAL BY MONDAY WITH BUILDING
RIDGE.

.EXTENDED...
REASONABLE AGREEMENT BETWEEN EXTENDED MODELS AND CONTINUITY BETWEEN
GFS UNTIL LATE. MID LEVEL RIDGE FLATTENS EARLY TRANSITIONING FA
IN SW/ZONAL FLOW THROUGH REMAINDER OF PERIOD. SFC BOUNDARY SETTING
UP FROM S MB TO WESTERN HIGH PLAINS TUESDAY. MID LEVEL SUPPORT LOOKS
WEAK WITH FAVORED AREA ACROSS NORTH. BETTER CHANCES WEDNESDAY AS SFC
BOUNDARY PUSHES THROUGH WITH MORE SIGNIFICANT WAVE...AGAIN MAIN
ENERGY LOOKS TO BE ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA. THERMAL RIDGE PEAKS PRIOR
TO FROPA WITH FALLING THICKNESS/850MB TEMPS THEREAFTER.

.FGF...NONE

KELLENBENZ/VOELKER
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 27, 5:05 AM CST, 11 hours 35 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-271300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
605 AM CDT FRI JUN 27 2003

...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER EXISTS ACROSS EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA TODAY AND TONIGHT...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST
CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER EXISTS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA TODAY AND TONIGHT. THE MAIN
SEVERE WEATHER THREATS ARE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. IN
ADDITION...THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOS. THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THIS
AFTERNOON...TRACK INTO EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA BY LATE AFTERNOON...AND
THEN MOVE INTO NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS EVENING.

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN AREA OF LOW
PRESSURE AND ITS ASSOCIATED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT...PROVIDING THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT...SOME OF WHICH COULD BE SEVERE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS IN ALL BUT SOUTHEASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA ON SATURDAY...AND FOR THE WHOLE AREA FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON
THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/FGF/INDEX.HTML (ALL LOWER CASE)

NG

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 tornado, 4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Sargent

When
June 27, 4:40 PM CST to 4:42 PM CST
Where
Sargent County, 5 mi WSW of Straubville
Rating
F0
Path length
1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.650, -99.433

A brief touchdown was reported.

Tornado, Towner

When
June 27, 5:35 PM CST
Where
Towner County, 7 mi NW of Bisbee
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
48.367, -99.483

A brief touchdown was reported near the county line.

Hail, Towner

When
June 27, 5:40 PM CST
Where
Towner County, 3 mi WNW of Perth
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.367, -99.250

Tornado, Towner

When
June 27, 5:54 PM CST
Where
Towner County, 5 mi NW of Bisbee
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.367, -99.233

A tornado was reported.

Hail, Towner

When
June 27, 5:55 PM CST
Where
Towner County, 4 mi NW of Bisbee
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.333, -99.150

Tornado, Towner

When
June 27, 6:02 PM CST
Where
Towner County, 3 mi W of Bisbee
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
48.667, -99.467

A Grand Forks, ND, couple, travelling in the area, videotaped this touchdown and the 1735 CST and 1754 CST touchdowns.

Hail, Benson

When
June 27, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Benson County, 6 mi NNW of Leeds
Measured
1.25 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.600, -98.600

Tornado, Towner

When
June 27, 7:00 PM CST
Where
Towner County, 3 mi W of Maza
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.783, -98.633

A farmer watched a tornado in a field, which then moved into a slough and lifted water 100 feet in the air.

Tornado, Benson

When
June 27, 7:10 PM CST
Where
Benson County, 8 mi NE of Niles
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.617, -99.450

A brief touchdown occurred near Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge.

Tornado, Ramsey

When
June 27, 7:12 PM CST
Where
Ramsey County, 9 mi NNW of Penn
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
46.017, -98.000

A tornado touched down near Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge.

Hail, Eddy

When
June 27, 7:50 PM CST
Where
Eddy County, 6 mi SW of Hamar
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.733, -99.517

Tornado, Eddy

When
June 27, 8:18 PM CST to 8:20 PM CST
Where
Eddy County, 13 mi E of Brantford
Rating
F0
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
25 yd
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
48.683, -99.500

A tornado briefly touched down.

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.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2003Warnings in North Dakota, June 2003

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: 5366905, 5366906, 5366907, 5366908, 5366909, 5366187, 5366910, 5366911, 5366912, 5366184, 5366186, 5366185.