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 20, 2:15 PM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 315 PM CDT THU JUL 20 2006 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT... THE AXIS OF THE UPPER RIDGE HAS WORKED ITS WAY FURTHER WEST AS OUR S/W OF ATTENTION DIVES SE ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS...WHICH MEANS THAT THE HOTTEST AIR WILL BE SHUNTED THAT DIRECTION AS WELL DURING THE SHORT TERM...AND THAT WE WILL DEAL WITH A FEW WAVES SCOOTING ACROSS THE AREA. TWO ISSUES COME TO MIND WITH THIS THOUGH...THE FIRST BEING THAT WE STILL LACK LOW LEVEL MOISTURE /EVEN TONIGHT/...AND THE SECOND THAT WE ARE NOT COMPLETELY OUT OF THE GRASP OF THE HEAT AS THERMAL RIDGING WILL STILL FIND ITS WAY EAST...ESPECIALLY LATE IN THE PERIOD. WHILE SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES OF THE NAM AND GFS ARE ON MUCH THE SAME PAGE...THERE ARE SUBTLE DIFFERENCES THAT MAKE US LEAN TOWARD THE LATTER MODEL AS A PRIMARY INPUT TO OUR FCST DATABASE. THE GFS PORTRAYS A MUCH LARGER DIURNAL SWING IN TEMPS THE NEXT FEW DAYS... WHICH IS A VERY LIKELY RESULT OF TOPSOIL MOISTURE DEFICITS. THIS MODEL IS ALSO MORE MOIST THE NEXT 12 HOURS...AND CONSIDERING THE CONVECTION NOW WORKING ITS WAY INTO CENT ND IT IS HARD TO NOT BELIEVE THIS SCENARIO. WE ARE WORKING WITH SOME 500 J/KG OF MUCAPE THIS AFTERNOON...AND MID LVL LAPSE RATES APPROACHING 7 DEG C/KM. THE 50KTS OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR WE HAVE IS APPARENTLY ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SOME SEVERE UPDRAFTS. THIS MAY CONTINUE FOR A WHILE...MOST NOTABLY FOR THE CELLS THAT DVLP ON THE SOUTH END OF THE COMPLEX. THERE WILL BE A TENDENCY FOR PROPAGATION SE AS BETTER LOW LVL MOISTURE IS ENCOUNTERED. 850MB FRONTOGENESIS IS ALSO FOCUSED SW AND SC AS IS UPPER DIFFLUENCE. THIS IS WHERE THE 09Z SREF HIT POPS THE MOST AND WHERE WE WILL AS WELL FOR EARLY TONIGHT. WE WILL SEE THIS ACTIVITY WEAKEN AS IT RUNS INTO DRIER AIR TO ITS EAST. BIS ITSELF IS PROBABLY ABOUT THE END OF THE REAL PRECIP. IN THE WAKE OF THIS ACTIVITY...SOME DESTABILIZATION WILL OCCUR IN EASTERN MT. LIKELY TO SEE A FEW HUNDRED J/KG OF CAPE HERE TOO...BUT WITH NW FLOW ALOFT ANYTHING THAT FORMS WILL TEND SE AS WELL. WE LACK CONFIDENCE IN THIS REDEVELOPMENT AT THE MOMENT. THIS WILL BE THE LAST REAL CHANCE OF PRECIP IN THE SHORT TERM...WITH TEMPS TAKING CENTER STAGE. THE NEXT WAVE THAT IMPACTS THIS FA WILL BE ON SUNDAY. HERE THE GFS IS MUCH SLOWER THAN THE NAM...BUT IT IS ALSO FAIRLY CONSISTENT IN ITS TIMING. AS A RESULT THERE WILL BE LOW AND MID LVL WAA WITH 850 MB TEMPS FROM 25 TO 28 C. SHOULD BE ENOUGH MIXING TO MAKE TRIPLE DIGITS A CONCERN SW AND SC...BUT WITH DISPARITY AMONG MODELS /WITH THE NAM TEMPS SOME 5 DEG C COOLER AT THIS LVL/ WE WILL HOLD SHORT OF THIS FOR THE MOMENT. BETWEEN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...THE REAL STORY WILL BE DIURNAL SWINGS. WAA TAKES 850 MB TEMPS INTO THE 20S BY SAT...BUT BLYR TDS ARE LOW ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR LOTS OF RADIATIONAL COOLING. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... HAVE ONLY MADE A FEW CHANGES TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. THE GFS IS SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS RUNG...WITH A RIDGE OVER THE ROCKIES ON MONDAY...AND WITH THE RIDGE LOOSING AMPLITUDE THE REST OF THE FORECAST PERIOD ALLOWING SHORTWAVES TO MOVE THROUGH. THE STRONGEST SHORTWAVE WILL BE TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT WHICH IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PREVIOUS MODEL RUN. WILL BRING A CHANCE OF TSTMS INTO THE WEST IN THE AFTERNOON AND SPREAD IT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY NIGHT. WILL KEEP WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY DRY FOR NOW AS NEXT SHORT WAVES ARE WEAKER AND LIKELY TO SEE TIMING CHANCE IN FUTURE RUNS. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .NONE && SCHULTZ/TSW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 103 PM CDT THU JUL 20 2006 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-211815- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS- FOSTER-GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-STARK-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER- STUTSMAN-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN- LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 103 PM CDT THU JUL 20 2006 /1203 PM MDT THU JUL 20 2006/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH PARTS OF WESTERN AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL BE THE GREATEST HAZARD FROM THESE STORMS...BUT ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE. ANY SEVERE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. CJS/RSL
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1259 PM CDT THU JUL 20 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1230 PM HAIL BEACH 46.91N 104.01W
07/20/2006 E1.00 INCH GOLDEN VALLEY ND AMATEUR RADIO
QUARTER SIZE HAIL UP TO 1245 CENTRAL TIME
&&
VROLLERPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
100 PM CDT THU JUL 20 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1252 PM HAIL BEACH 46.91N 104.01W
07/20/2006 E0.88 INCH GOLDEN VALLEY ND AMATEUR RADIO
NICKEL SIZE HAIL STILL OCCURRING AT 1255 CENTRAL TIME AND
PILING UP
&&
VROLLERThe Bismarck radar (KBIS), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:31 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a granary roof, damaging the roof near a metal covered landing door and blowing wood off near the door. Lightning also started a fire in the nearby pasture.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 2006
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: 5522119.