3 funnel cloud, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 21, 11:06 AM CST, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 1206 PM CDT SAT MAY 21 2005 .DISCUSSION... ABOVE NORMAL HEIGHTS OVER THE SOUTHWEST US AND NEAR NORMAL HEIGHTS ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL PRODUCE A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET, AT LEAST INITIALLY, FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS THROUGH THE SHORT TERM. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER MT IS FORECAST TO CLOSE OFF OVER SOUTHERN MANITOBA THIS AFTERNOON. SYSTEM BECOMES VERTICALLY STACKED BY LATE AFTERNOON. ALSO A SURFACE LOW OVER SD WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN MANITOBA AND INTENSIFY BY LATE AFTERNOON. MORNING OBSERVED SOUNDINGS INDICATE WARM AIR HAS MOVED IN BETWEEN 800 AND 500 HPA PROVIDING A MID LEVEL CAP TO CONVECTION. ETA MODEL SOUNDINGS WERE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH OBSERVED SOUNDINGS THIS MORNING. 700 HPA THERMAL RIDGE WAS LOCATED UNDER THE EXIT REGION OF AN UPPER LEVEL JET THAT WILL MOVE ALONG THE NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER THIS AFTERNOON. MID LAYERS COOL SIGNIFICANTLY THIS AFTERNOON LEAVING LOWER LAYERS ADIABATIC. 40+ KNOTS TO MIX DOWN AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE MAY PUSH WARNING CRITERIA. WITH COOLING ALOFT THIS AFTERNOON AND INTENSIFYING SYSTEM WILL ISSUE A WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL BUT THE WOODED AREAS IN THE EAST. GUSTY SOUTH WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED EARLY IN THE PERIOD MAINLY IN THE SOUTHERN VALLEY. WIND WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AS TEMPERATURES COOL ALOFT AND RELEASE THE MID LEVEL CAP. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...FLOOD WATCH TO SAT/6PM FOR EASTERN ND NEAR AND NORTH NORTH OF I-94. WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT FOR EASTERN ND. NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052<054. MN...FLOOD WATCH TO SAT/6PM FOR NORTHWEST MN NORTH OF A MOORHEAD TO BEMIDJI LINE. WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT FOR PARTS OF NORTHWEST MN. MNZ001>005-007-008-013>015-022-027>031-040. && HOPPES
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 607 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 2005 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-212006- 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 607 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 2005 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS MORNING AND AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS MORNING AND AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STRONG STORMS THIS MORNING WILL OCCUR GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 200 WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY HAZARD. THE STORMS SHOULD WEAKEN BY NOON. BY MID AFTERNOON STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AS A COLD FRONT SWEEPS THROUGH THE AREA. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT THE FOLLOWING URL. WEATHER.GOV/GRANDFORKS USING LOWER CASE VOELKER
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND 312 PM CDT SAT MAY 21 2005 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-220200- WEST BECKER MN-EAST BECKER MN-NORTH BELTRAMI MN- SOUTH BELTRAMI MN-CLAY MN-NORTH CLEARWATER MN- SOUTH CLEARWATER MN-GRANT MN-HUBBARD MN-KITTSON MN- LAKE OF THE WOODS MN-MAHNOMEN MN-EAST MARSHALL MN- WEST MARSHALL MN-NORMAN MN-EAST OTTER TAIL MN-WEST OTTER TAIL MN- PENNINGTON MN-EAST POLK MN-WEST POLK MN-RED LAKE MN-ROSEAU MN- WADENA MN-WILKIN MN- THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 310 UNTIL 900 PM CDT SATURDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 1 COUNTY WADENA IN NORTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES BELTRAMI HUBBARD LAKE OF THE WOODS IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 11 COUNTIES BECKER CLAY CLEARWATER KITTSON MAHNOMEN MARSHALL NORMAN PENNINGTON POLK RED LAKE ROSEAU IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES GRANT OTTER TAIL WILKIN INCLUDING THE CITIES OF BEMIDJI...DETROIT LAKES...FERGUS FALLS... ROSEAU AND THIEF RIVER FALLS.
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:15 UTC.
3 funnel cloud, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado touched down north of Crookston, and created a west-to-east damage path. The tornado hit a well-constructed pole barn and then travelled into an open field. Several large trees were snapped in half. The estimated peak wind speed was 140 mph.
A wall cloud with pendant funnel was observed for about 25 minutes.
Two large trees were snapped off by the strong wind.
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: 5454565, 5454566, 5454567, 5454568, 5454569.