Tornado, Oliver
- When
- August 23, 6:47 PM CST to 6:48 PM CST
- Where
- Oliver County, 10 mi W of Center
- Rating
- F0
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 47.117, -101.517
Tornado briefly touched down in open country.
Tornado in North Dakota, August 23, 2004
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
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 Aug 23, 2:15 PM CST, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 2:15 PM CST, 4 hours 32 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 315 PM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 .SHORT TERM... PROBLEM FOR THE DAY WILL BE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT. BIS VAD WINDS SHOW 30 KT SOUTH WINDS AT LOW LEVELS AND DEWPOINTS HAVE BEEN GOING UP AS THE SURFACE LOW IN EASTERN MONTANA CONTINUES TO MOVE SLOWLY EAST. TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED BY CLOUDS THROUGH THE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON...BUT CLEARING ACROSS THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SHOULD ALLOW TEMPS TO REACH THE 70S. MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW GOOD CAPE AHEAD OF THE LOW. K INDEX WILL BE IN THE MID 30S INDICATING POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN. THUNDERSTORMS NOW IN NORTH CENTRAL ND LACK SUPPORT AND ARE UNLIKELY TO GO SEVERE...BUT WILL LIKELY SEE TSTMS DEVELOP IN THE CLEAR WARM AIR TO THE SOUTH AND WEST AND ADVECT INTO THE AREA. THE MODELS ALL MOVE THE SURFACE LOW EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA BY TUESDAY MORNING...WITH GOOD DRYING IN WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS AND SUBSIDENCE ALOFT. THE CU INDEX AND TQ INDEX SHOW LITTLE SUPPORT OF CU/SHOWER DEVELOPMENT SO WILL NOT MENTION PRECIP EXCEPT FOR SLIGHT CHANCE MORNING SHOWERS FAR NORTHWEST. WITH ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DIGGING INTO THE WEST BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...EXPECT ANOTHER CHANCE OF TSTMS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. WATCH TO BE ISSUED SOON BY SPC. .LONG TERM... FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE FRIDAY WITH LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER THE ROCKIES AND SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER NORTH DAKOTA WITH SERIES OF SHORTWAVE ENERGY IMPULSES MOVING THROUGH THE FLOW. MODELS BRING ANOTHER SHORTWAVE BEHIND THIS MAIN IMPULSE ON SUNDAY...BUT WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY FOR NOW AS MAIN FORCING HAS MOVED EAST. BUILDING RIDGE FROM THE WEST ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && TSW/JV
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 23, 3:04 AM CST, 15 hours 43 minutes before
NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-010000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 404 AM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-240903- ADAMS-BILLINGS-BOTTINEAU-BOWMAN-BURKE-BURLEIGH-DICKEY-DIVIDE-DUNN- EMMONS-FOSTER-GOLDEN VALLEY-GRANT-HETTINGER-KIDDER-LA MOURE-LOGAN- MCHENRY-MCINTOSH-MCKENZIE-MCLEAN-MERCER-MORTON-MOUNTRAIL-OLIVER- PIERCE-RENVILLE-ROLETTE-SHERIDAN-SIOUX-SLOPE-STARK-STUTSMAN-WARD- WELLS-WILLIAMS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WILLISTON...MINOT...JAMESTOWN... DICKINSON...CROSBY...BOWMAN...BOTTINEAU...BISMARCK...MANDAN... WATFORD CITY...WASHBURN...STANLEY...RUGBY...MOTT...MEDORA...LINTON... HETTINGER...HARVEY...ELLENDALE...CARRINGTON...BEULAH...BELCOURT... BEACH AND ASHLEY 404 AM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA TODAY AND EVENING ALONG AND AHEAD OF A SLOW MOVING TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE. A FEW STORMS MAY BE SEVERE TODAY AND EVENING WITH THE PRIMARY THREAT BEING HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. RGT
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 23, 3:40 PM CST, 3 hours 7 minutes before
NDZ001-009-017-230039 SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND 439 PM CDT MON AUG 23 2004 AT 436 PM CDT LOCAL RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHERN MCKENZIE AND WESTERN WILLIAMS COUNTIES MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MOVING NORTHEAST THROUGH THE COUNTIES THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. LIGHT TO MODERATE PRECIPITATION...BRIEF GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. USE CAUTION TO ASSURE SAFETY DURING OUTDOOR ACTIVITY. ASSID
Local storm report, Aug 23, 4:44 PM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
544 PM CDT MON AUG 23 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0535 PM HAIL 13 NE REEDER 46.24N 102.75W
08/23/2004 1.00 INCH ADAMS ND TRAINED SPOTTER
GROUND WHITE WITH HAIL.
&&
SWLocal storm report, Aug 23, 5:07 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
607 PM CDT MON AUG 23 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0600 PM HAIL 4 E REGENT 46.42N 102.47W
08/23/2004 1.00 INCH HETTINGER ND TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
SWLocal storm report, Aug 23, 6:03 PM CST, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
703 PM CDT MON AUG 23 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 PM HAIL GLEN ULLIN 46.81N 101.83W
08/23/2004 0.75 INCH MORTON ND PUBLIC
&&
SWThe radar
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:48 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Kansas, August 23 to 24, 2004
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Kansas, August 23 to 24, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Mississippi, August 23, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, August 23, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 23, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Mississippi, August 23, 2004
- Lightning Strike in South Dakota, August 23, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Florida, August 23, 2004
- Hail in South Dakota, August 23, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Michigan, August 23, 2004
- Tornado and Hail in Kansas, August 23, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 23 to 24, 2004
More
Every storm in North Dakota in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2004Warnings in North Dakota, August 2004
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: 5418061.