Flash Flood, Morton
- When
- May 8, 5:30 PM CST to 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Morton County, 10 mi S of New Salem
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 46.700, -101.417
Flash Flood in North Dakota, May 8, 2005
Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding 10 miles south to 14 miles south of New Salem. Many county roads were washed out.
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 happened
The episode as NWS BIS wrote it up.
Heavy rainfall produced flash flooding 10 miles south to 14 miles south of New Salem. Many county roads were washed out. Water depth estimated to be one to two feet deep over roads.
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 May 8, 1:05 PM CST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 8, 1:05 PM CST, 4 hours 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 205 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 2005 .SHORT TERM... VERY DYNAMIC PATTERN WITH AN UPPER LOW CONTINUING ITS TREK ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS TONIGHT AND MONDAY. NAM QPF IMPRESSIVE IN OUR EASTERN ZONES...WILL MATCH FGFS FLASH FLOOD WATCH ALONG THE SOUTHERN TWO THIRDS OF OUR COMMON BORDER. BY TUESDAY... THE NEXT UPPER LOW IN A SERIES...APPROACHES THE MOUNTAIN WEST AND THE ACTION ONCE AGAIN PICKS UP AND SPREADS ACROSS OUR STATE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. THE UPPER LOW IN THE LEE OF THE ROCKIES/CENTRAL PLAINS ON THURSDAY MOVES EAST SLOWLY AND MERGES WITH A LONGWAVE TROUGH EXTENDING SOUTHWARD FROM CANADA ON FRIDAY. THIS SYSTEM PICKS UP SPEED AND MOVES EAST OF THE REGION BY SATURDAY. HAVE KEPT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...AND KEPT SATURDAY AND SUNDAY DRY. HIGHS IN THE 50S THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...AND IN THE 60S SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY FOR EASTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. && RSL/JV
Hazardous weather outlook, May 8, 4:43 AM CST, 12 hours 47 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 543 AM CDT SUN MAY 8 2005 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-091042- 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 543 AM CDT SUN MAY 8 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EAST OF A LINE FROM BISMARCK TO MINOT THIS AFTERNOON...WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE IN THE JAMESTOWN TO ELLENDALE AREA. HEAVY RAIN COULD OCCUR WITH SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. AREAS OF MODERATE RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA TODAY AS PRECIPITATION WRAPS AROUND A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CENTERED IN THE WESTERN DAKOTAS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE MINOR FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 8, 4:09 PM CST, 1 hour 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
509 PM CDT SUN MAY 08 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0405 PM HAIL 13 SE NEW SALEM 46.71N 101.22W
05/08/2005 1.75 INCH MORTON ND PUBLIC
&&
SWICHELocal storm report, May 8, 4:27 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
527 PM CDT SUN MAY 08 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0520 PM HAIL 6 N KULM 46.39N 98.95W
05/08/2005 1.00 INCH LAMOURE ND PUBLIC
&&
SWICHELocal storm report, May 8, 5:03 PM CST, 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
603 PM CDT SUN MAY 08 2005
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0543 PM HAIL ELLENDALE 46.00N 98.52W
05/08/2005 0.75 INCH DICKEY ND FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
LASTED FROM 530 PM CDT TO 543 PM CDT.
&&
SWICHEThe radar
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:32 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Rain in California, May 8 to 9, 2005
- Flash Flood in Idaho, May 8, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 8, 2005
- Flood in California, May 8 to 10, 2005
- Hail in Texas, May 8, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 8, 2005
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Iowa, May 8, 2005
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, May 8, 2005
- Tornado and Flooding in Kansas, May 8, 2005
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, May 8, 2005
- Tornado and Flash Flood in North Dakota, May 8 to 9, 2005
- Hail in South Dakota, May 8, 2005
More
Every storm in North Dakota in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, May 2005
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: 5450516.