5 hail, 2 tornado, 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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 20, 2:45 PM CST, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 345 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005 .DISCUSSION...CONVECTION STARTING TO FIRE UP ON ALONG A SURFACE BASED TROUGH FROM SOUTH OF BIS TO NORTH OF HCO WHILE DEW POINT GRADIENT ACROSS THE BOUNDARY IN NORTHEAST ND IS AROUND 20F. CLOUD BASES ARE STILL HIGH BUT EXPECT BOUNDARY LAYER TO GET INVOLVED PER RECENT SWOMCD MESSAGE. .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT-MON)...GFS IS AN OUTLIER NOW IN SHOWING LARGEST QPF ACROSS NORTHERN ND WHILE MODELS NOW PREFER SOUTHERN SASK/MB. ETA INITIALIZED TOO WARM FOR LBF/UNR/ABR/BIS AT 12Z SO HAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT ITS VERSION OF THE LOW LEVEL JET DEVELOPING AND AMOUNT OF RESULTANT CONDENSATION TO EXPECT. ITS FARTHER NORTH LOCATION OF THE 300-200 MB UPPER JET ARRIVING ON SAT IS ALSO SUSPECT WITH LIMITED DIVERGENCE. GFS APPEARS TO HAVE A BETTER CURRENT HANDLE THAN ETA ON THE ASSOCIATED UPPER TROUGH ARRIVING ONSHORE ATTM OVER NORTHERN CA ESPECIALLY IN REGARDS TO THE LOCATION OF DARKENING JUST BEHIND THE TROUGH AXIS. BUT GFS MAY BE OVERDONE IN ITS DIVERGENCE ON SAT. BELIEVE MM5/ETA/CANADIAN ARE TOO FAR NORTH THOUGH THEY FOCUS ON MOVING THE BOUNDARY CURRENTLY OVER EASTERN ND AND MOVE IT NORTH ACCORDING TO THE DEVELOPING LOW LEVEL JET. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER DEVELOPING TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED LOW LEVEL JET IN SOUTHERN SD/CENTRAL NE THAT GFS FAVORS. WILL SEE WHICH ONE COOKS OFF. USED HPC QPF GRIDS FOR FORECAST WHICH LEANED MUCH UPON GFS THOUGH MODIFIED THEM A BIT. THE QPF MAX IN SOUTHEAST ND THAT GFS SHOWS APPEARS TO BE CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK AND FAVORED TONING IT DOWN. WINDY CONDITIONS FOR NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. AN ADVISORY MAY BE NECESSARY ON SAT DEPENDING ON WHERE THE JET SETS UP AND HOW UNSTABLE LOW LEVELS ARE BUT IS MORE LIKELY FOR SUNDAY...AGAIN DEPENDING ON WHERE THE JET ENDS UP. .LONG TERM... TODAYS LONGWAVE PATTERN IS SLIGHTLY MORE AMPLIFIED THAN YESTERDAYS RUN THOUGH STILL QUITE ZONAL. FLAT LONGWAVE RIDGE FROM THE NORTHERN PLAINS TO NM SHIFTS SOUTH AND RETROGRADES TO THE WEST THROUGH THE PERIOD. 120 HOUR 12Z GFS IS SLOWER THAN 00Z RUN WITH THE ECMWF INBETWEEN. ENSEMBLE SET BECOMES QUITE NOISY BY FRI WITH THE OPERATIONAL RUNS HAVING HIGHER AMPLITUDE THAN MANY OF THE MEMBERS. UPPER LEVEL JET WILL AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH MUCH OF THE PERIOD WITH SHORT WAVES MOVING THORUGH THE FLOW. SO HAVE ADDED CHANCE OF THUNDER FOR TUE AND THU && AVIATION... VISIBLE LOOP SHOWING LOW CLOUDS PERSIST IN A NORTH SOUTH BAND ACROSS MN AND WAS ERODING ALONG THE WI/MN BORDER AND LESS SO ON THE WEST EDGE OF THE CLOUD BAND. STORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN NELSON GRIGGS AND BARNES COUNTIES MOVING EAST ABOUT 25 MPH. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH TODAY/8PM TO SAT/6PM FOR EASTERN ND NEAR AND NORTH NORTH OF I-94. MN...CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH TODAY/8PM TO SAT/6PM FOR NORTHWEST MN NORTH OF A MOORHEAD TO BEMIDJI LINE. && GV/HOPPES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 641 AM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-201430- BARNES ND-BENSON ND-CASS ND-CAVALIER ND-CLAY MN-EAST BECKER MN- EAST MARSHALL MN-EAST OTTER TAIL MN-EAST POLK MN- EASTERN WALSH COUNTY ND-EDDY ND-GRAND FORKS ND-GRANT MN-GRIGGS ND- HUBBARD MN-KITTSON MN-LAKE OF THE WOODS MN-MAHNOMEN MN-NELSON ND- NORMAN MN-NORTH BELTRAMI MN-NORTH CLEARWATER MN-PEMBINA ND- PENNINGTON MN-RAMSEY ND-RANSOM ND-RED LAKE MN-RICHLAND ND-ROSEAU MN- SARGENT ND-SOUTH BELTRAMI MN-SOUTH CLEARWATER MN-STEELE ND-TOWNER ND- TRAILL ND-WADENA MN-WEST BECKER MN-WEST MARSHALL MN- WEST OTTER TAIL MN-WEST POLK MN-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY ND-WILKIN MN- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BEMIDJI...DETROIT LAKES...DEVILS LAKE... FARGO...FERGUS FALLS...GRAFTON...GRAND FORKS...LANGDON...ROSEAU... THIEF RIVER FALLS...VALLEY CITY AND WAHPETON 641 AM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA FRIDAY NIGHT... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY LATE AFTERNOON ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE...WITH THE MAIN THREAT LARGE HAIL. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY NIGHT...MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN WHICH MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY AS THE COMPLEX FROM FRIDAY NIGHT DEPARTS THE REGION. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON SATURDAY ALONG AND EAST OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING...WITH SPEEDS 20 TO 35 MPH AND GUSTS TO 50 MPH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY FRIDAY NIGHT...AND AGAIN SATURDAY AFTERNOON. TG
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
412 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0405 PM TORNADO 5 NW HOPE 47.38N 97.80W
05/20/2005 STEELE ND TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
JSMITHPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
446 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0435 PM TORNADO 1 NE HATTON 47.65N 97.44W
05/20/2005 TRAILL ND LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
WJBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
449 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0445 PM HAIL REYNOLDS 47.67N 97.11W
05/20/2005 1.00 INCH TRAILL ND BROADCAST MEDIA
RELAYED FROM WFO BISFROM STATERADIO
&&
WJBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
503 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0455 PM TORNADO GRAND FORKS 47.92N 97.07W
05/20/2005 GRAND FORKS ND NWS EMPLOYEE
SOUTH PART OF TOWN
&&
WJBThe Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:07 UTC.
5 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The tornado tracked eastward across an open field.
The tornado made a brief touchdown near the Red Lake River. The tops of trees were broken off.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2005Warnings in Minnesota, May 2005
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: 5454564, 5454558, 5454559, 5454563, 5454560, 5454561, 5454562.