Tornadoes and Hail in North Dakota, August 26, 2007

The hail was mostly penny to dime size, with some golfball size mixed in.

This funnel was observed from about 2 miles west-northwest of Union. No touchdown was observed, but the funnel was well defined.

This tornado tracked intermittently to the east-northeast and passed about a mile north of Union. The tornado then crossed into Pembina County, where it dissipated one mile southwest of Garder at 605 pm CST. The tornado had a total path length of 5 miles, and 4 miles of the total occurred in Cavalier County. No damage was reported. The highly visible funnel and its intermittent contact were viewed and reported by several spotters in Pembina and Walsh Counties. Peak winds were estimated at 70 mph.

This tornado originated 3 miles west of Union (in Cavalier County) at 555 pm CST. It crossed into Pembina County about 1 mile northeast of Milton. The tornado produced no damage, as it remained in rural farm fields. The total path length was 5 miles, but only about 1 mile occurred in Pembina County. The funnel and intermittent contact was viewed by spotters in Pembina and Walsh Counties at distances of 5 to 15 miles away. Peak winds were estimated at 70 mph.

This funnel cloud was observed about 8 miles west-northwest of Hoople (looking toward Union). Distance and time are approximate.

After the first tornado tracked from near Union (Cavalier County) to near Garder (Pembina County), a second tornado was produced by the same parent supercell thunderstorm. This tornado touched down about 5 miles west-southwest of Crystal (Pembina County) and continued to about 1.5 miles west of Hoople (Walsh County). The total tornado track was about 5 miles, and about 3 miles of the track occurred in Pembina County. The tornado made numerous strikes in shelterbelts along its path. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

This tornado originated at 620 pm CST about 5 miles west-southwest of Crystal in Pembina County. It crossed into Walsh County and dissipated about 1.5 miles west of Hoople. The total tornado track was about 5 miles, and about 2 miles of the total occurred in Walsh County. This tornado was produced by the same parent supercell thunderstorm that produced the first tornado that tracked from near Union (Cavalier County) to near Garder (Pembina County). The tornado made numerous strikes in shelterbelts along its path. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

The hail ranged in size from 1.00 to 1.75 inches in diameter and caused significant damage in Hoople. Essentially every house sustained some type of damage as well as wind damage.

The hail ranged in size from 1.00 to 1.75 inches.

Numerous trees were blown down at a farmstead.

The hail was mostly golfball sized, and the largest stones appeared to be aggregate type.

This tornado occurred after a thunderstorm cell merger. Numerous branches were broken down and several tree tops were snapped off in shelterbelts and along the North Branch of the Park River near Nash. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.

The county sheriff reported a funnel cloud just northeast of the intersection of highways 15 and 32.

This tornado continued into western Grand Forks County, where it dissipated 3 miles west-northwest of Logan Center at 716 pm CST. The total tornado track was about 6 miles long, with about 5 miles of this total occurring in Nelson County. The tornado destroyed a garage and farm outbuildings at 3 farmsteads. It killed 5 buffalo and completely dismantled a swathing combine. Trees were also snapped off or uprooted along the damage path and several empty metal grain bins were torn from their anchors and demolished. Gravel roads were deeply scarred by debris. Peak winds were estimated at 150 mph.

This tornado began about 6 miles north-northeast of Aneta in eastern Nelson County at 704 pm CST. The total tornado track was about 6 miles, with about 1 mile of it occurring in Grand Forks County. The tornado lofted and destroyed a second combine in Grand Forks County before it lifted. Peak winds were estimated at 150 mph.

The tornado touched down about 2 miles west-southwest of Northwood. The tornado crossed the Goose River about a mile west-southwest of the Northwood airport and left a 200 yard wide stretch of downed trees in its wake. By the time it hit the airport, the ground track was one-third of a mile wide and growing wider. At this point the tornado was still visible outside the increasingly heavy rain.

The tornado reached an incredible width of eight-tenths of a mile as it pushed through Northwood to the east-northeast. At this point it had multiple vortices embedded in the overall wedge shaped tornado. The strongest of these vortices appears to have scoured the ground and left broad circulation patterns of debris in the overall damage and debris field. Around this time the tornado likely became wrapped in heavy rain and would have been difficult to observe from a distance. The most extreme damage appeared to be in the northeast corner of the community.

Northwood, in southwest Grand Forks County, had a population of about 1000 people. 90 percent of the roughly 460 homes were damaged. One death occurred in a mobile home, with 18 other injuries reported. The death occurred in a trailer park on the north edge of town, where 19 total units were demolished.

Just to the east of the trailer park, in the area that sustained the extreme damage, three businesses were hit particularly hard. An agricultural company, the towns largest employer, had its buildings heavily damaged. A nearby construction company lost two large steel buildings and other equipment. Steel beams from the two steel buildings were twisted and tossed nearby. Finally, a car dealership lost 15 to 20 vehicles from its parking lot along highway 15. Many of these vehicles were damaged beyond recognition and tossed into nearby fields. One corn field to the north of highway 15 (across from the 3 businesses on the northeast side of town) had it stalks snapped off several inches from the root bases, with pieces of husked corn laying around.

Hangers and airplanes were also damaged at the airport. The local health center, school, supermarket, and grain elevator were damaged. Near the elevator, several rail cars were knocked off the tracks. Hundreds of trees were snapped, uprooted, or damaged. Power was also knocked out to many customers, but eventually was turned off (for safety reasons) to the entire town. A total of about 2600 truckloads of debris were hauled to the town landfill. In the days following the tornado, a Presidential Disaster Declaration was granted.

This tornado passed about a half-mile south Merrifield and was viewed by motorists as it crossed Interstate 29 near the Merrifield Road overpass. The tornado dissipated in a housing development about a mile south of Kings Walk Golf Course. Trees were ravaged and uprooted at several farmsteads and homesteads along the damage path. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

The hail fell on the campus of the University of North Dakota.

This tornado wrecked an antique wind charger windmill and downed some trees in Bentru Township (ND). It then crossed the Red River into Polk County, Minnesota, where it dissipated about 4 miles northwest of Eldred at 910 pm CST. The total path length was about 5 miles long, and about 2 miles of the total occurred in Grand Forks County. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.

This was an Atmospheric Resource Board report about 6 miles northeast of Hatton.