1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 16, 3:00 AM CST, 8 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 400 AM CDT SAT JUL 16 2005 .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT... MODELS INDICATE BUILDING MID LEVEL CAP OVER THE WESTERN DAKOTAS AND EASTERN MONTANA THIS MORNING. ONGOING WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION IN MONTANA MOVING EAST - EXPECT THIS IS HIGH BASED AND WILL WEAKEN AS IT MOVES EAST. WILL NOT PUT IN PRECIP THIS MORNING. THE SURFACE TROUGH IS CURRENTLY OVER EASTERN MONTANA AND IS EXPECTED TO ENTER THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE AROUND NOON TODAY AND PROGRESS SLOWLY EAST ALMOST INTO CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. THAT SAID...FIRST CONCERN IS FIRE WEATHER. EXPECTING SOUTH WINDS WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE 50S TO NEAR 60 IN THE WEST WITH TEMPERATURES CLIMBING INTO THE UPPER 80S/LOWER 90S...THEN WINDS SWITCH TO THE WEST AND TEMPS RISE INTO THE 90S AND AROUND 100 WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITIES DROPPING TO 15 TO 25 PERCENT...THEN WINDS BECOME NORTHWEST AROUND 20 MPH DURING THE EVENING. ALSO EXPECTING A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. WILL ISSUE A RED FLAG WARNING FOR WESTERN COUNTIES FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WEST AND NORTH CENTRAL THIS AFTERNOON ALONG AND BEHIND THE TROUGH AND NORTH CENTRAL SHERE THE CAP MAY BE JUST WEAK ENOUGH TO HAVE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP. KEPT CHANCES THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT AS THE TROUGH ADVANCES AND AS THE CAP BREAKS DOWN...MENTIONING SEVERE DURING THE EVENING. NEXT CONCERN IS WINDS BEHIND THE TROUGH...ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHWEST WHERE H850 WINDS ARE NORTHWEST AROUND 50 KNOTS AT 12Z SUNDAY. WILL ISSUE WIND ADVISORY FOR LATE TONIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY MORNING FOR THE FAR SOUTHWEST. STILL A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY WITH H500 TROUGH MOVING THROUGH. BY MONDAY...COOLER AIR WILL BE IN PLACE WITH HIGHS IN THE LOW 80S AND LOWS DOWN IN THE 50S. .LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... LOW AMPLITUDE FLOW ALOFT WILL RESULT IN WEAK UNCERTAIN SURFACE FEATURES. MODELS SHOW A FAST MOVING SHALLOW SHORT WAVE PASSING THROUGH THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT...BUT MOST OF THE ENERGY WILL BE IN CANADA. WILL KEEP THE BIS CWA DRY THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING WEST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WIND ADVISORY FAR SOUTHWEST LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING. && VINING/LM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 535 AM CDT SAT JUL 16 2005 NDZ001-009-017-018-031>033-171033- BILLINGS-DIVIDE-DUNN-GOLDEN VALLEY-MCKENZIE-STARK-WILLIAMS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WILLISTON...DICKINSON...CROSBY... WATFORD CITY...MEDORA AND BEACH 535 AM CDT SAT JUL 16 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR LOW HUMIDITIES...AFTERNOON HIGHS IN THE 90S TO AROUND 100...AND WIND SWITCHES. SOUTH WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH THIS MORNING WILL BECOME WEST THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL SWITCH TO THE NORTH AT 15 TO 25 MPH THIS EVENING WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT. AFTERNOON AND NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. NDZ040-041-043-044-171033- ADAMS-BOWMAN-HETTINGER-SLOPE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BOWMAN...MOTT AND HETTINGER 535 AM CDT SAT JUL 16 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOT A. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR LOW HUMIDITIES...AFTERNOON HIGHS IN THE 90S TO AROUND 100...AND WIND SWITCHES. SOUTH WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH THIS MORNING WILL BECOME WEST THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL SWITCH TO THE NORTH AT 15 TO 25 MPH THIS EVENING WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT. AFTERNOON AND NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR SUNDAY MORNING IN THE FAR SOUTHWEST. EXPECT NORTH WINDS TO INCREASE TO 30 TO 35 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. NDZ002>005-010>013-019>023-025-034>037-042-045>048-050-051-171033- BOTTINEAU-BURKE-BURLEIGH-DICKEY-EMMONS-FOSTER-GRANT-KIDDER-LA MOURE- LOGAN-MCHENRY-MCINTOSH-MCLEAN-MERCER-MORTON-MOUNTRAIL-OLIVER-PIERCE- RENVILLE-ROLETTE-SHERIDAN-SIOUX-STUTSMAN-WARD-WELLS- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MINOT...JAMESTOWN...BOTTINEAU...BISMARCK... MANDAN...WASHBURN...STANLEY...RUGBY...LINTON...HARVEY...ELLENDALE... CARRINGTON...BEULAH...BELCOURT AND ASHLEY 535 AM CDT SAT JUL 16 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOT A. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AFTERNOON AND NIGHTTIME THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. VINING
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:58 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Home struck by lightning. Blew out the TV, VCR, and telephone. Plaster in the bathroom was knocked off the walls. An electircal outlet on the outside of the home had the cover on it blown off and thrown 15 feet. The plug outlet was no longer usable.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 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: 5464503.