A high wind event occurred across portions of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota in the early morning hours of the 10th. Several things came together to cause this event.
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 episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
A high wind event occurred across portions of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota in the early morning hours of the 10th. Several things came together to cause this event. First, a strengthening upper level jet moved into the area along with sinking motion in the low to mid layers of the atmosphere. A morning upper air sounding from Aberdeen, South Dakota, showed nearly unidirectional winds from the surface to the jet level. Also at the surface, an area of low pressure located near Cooperstown (ND) in the early morning hours strengthened as it moved toward Baudette (MN) around sunrise. Some decaying weak showers could also have helped mix some of the stronger winds down to the surface.
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 Jul 10, 3:31 AM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
431 AM CDT TUE JUL 10 2007
.SHORT TERM...
A HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER AIR PATTERN IS FORECAST FOR THE NEXT COUPLE
DAYS. SHORT WAVE WAS MOVING THROUGH THIS MORNING. WATER VAPOR LOOP
SHOWED MODEST DRYING/DARKENING OVER ND. A WEAKER SHORT WAVE WAS
LOCATED OVER THE CENTRAL AB/SK BORDER AND WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AND
IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON. WILL
ISSUED WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ALL EXCEPT THE WOODED AREAS IN
THE EAST.
.LONG TERM...
NO CHANGES.
&&
.AVIATION...
&&
.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR NDZ006>008-
014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052>054.
HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 5 AM CDT EARLY THIS MORNING FOR NDZ015-
026-054.
MN...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR MNZ001>005-007-
008-013>015-022-027-029>031-040.
&&
HOPPESThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The wind gust was measured by an AWOS sensor at the Moorhead airport. Downed trees and tree branches onto powerlines caused roughly 6000 customers to lose power in the Fargo/Moorhead area.
The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor about 3 miles east-southeast of Lake Park.
The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor located about 2 miles south-southeast of Mahnomen.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Minnesota, July 2007
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: 43832, 43833, 43834.