An Alberta Clipper moving across the region created a tight pressure gradient over western and central North Dakota. This resulted in high winds during the afternoon hours of Monday, January 8th.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 BIS wrote it up.
An Alberta Clipper moving across the region created a tight pressure gradient over western and central North Dakota. This resulted in high winds during the afternoon hours of Monday, January 8th. Mesonet data showed the highest wind gusts in excess of 65 mph across parts of Stark, Morton, and Burleigh counties.
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 Jan 8, 3:06 AM CST, 9 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 306 AM CST MON JAN 8 2007 SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT... FORECAST CONCERNS/HIGHLIGHTS IN THE SHORT TERM WILL INITIALLY FOCUS ON HIGH WINDS TODAY WITH THE ALBERTA CLIPPER...THEN SHIFT TO VERY COLD AIR ADVECTING IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT. OVERALL GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT FOR THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS...WITH THE GFS A BIT FASTER WITH COLDER AIR MOVING IN FROM THE NORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WILL USE A BLEND OVER THE FIRST TWO DAYS...THEN SIDE CLOSER TO THE UKMET AND NAM WITH A SLOWER PROGRESSION OF THE ARCTIC AIRMASS. CURRENTLY...SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SLIDING SOUTHEAST OVER THE FORECAST AREA UNDER STRONG FLOW ALOFT. LATEST RADAR LOOP SHOWING WEAK ECHOS EAST ALONG THE WARM FRONT. SNOW SHOWERS ALONG THE FRONT DROPPED SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE WEST EARLIER...BUT EVERYTHING DRIED UP ONCE THE FROPA REACHED THE CENTRAL AROUND MIDNIGHT. FORECAST FIRST CENTERS ON STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS DEVELOPING THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON OVER MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE. NUMERICAL GUIDANCE PUTS THE STRONGER WINDS OVER THE SOUTHWEST...WITH STRONG SUPPORT FROM BOTH THE GFS AND NAM SOUNDINGS. THIS AREA WILL ALSO HAVE THE STEEPEST LAPSE RATES WITH WARMER SFC TEMPS IN ADDITION TO HIGHER ELEVATION. SHOULD EASILY REACH WARNING CRITERIA SO HAVE UPGRADED THE HIGH WIND WATCH TO A WARNING HERE. INCLUDED GOLDEN VALLEY EAST TO STARK FOR THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE WARNING...THEN OVER TO MORTON AND SIOUX FOR THE EASTERN EXTENT. THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA WILL BE UNDER A WIND ADVISORY...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FOUR NORTHEAST COUNTIES WHERE WINDS WILL BE LIGHTER CLOSER TO THE LOW. WIND MAGNITUDES WILL REACH 35-40 KTS SUSTAINED WITH 50+ KT GUSTS OVER THE WARNING AREA...WITH 30 KT SUSTAINED AND UP TO 45 KT GUSTS OVER THE ADVISORY. GUSTY WINDS WILL START WEST DURING THE MORNING...SPREADING INTO THE CENTRAL THIS AFTERNOON. END TIMES FOR HEADLINES WILL BE EARLY EVENING WEST AND MIDNIGHT CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST. IN ADDITION TO THE WINDS...SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA AS MID LEVEL ENERGY ADVECTS SOUTHEAST FROM CANADA. NOT EXPECTING MUCH AS FAR AS ACCUMULATIONS...WITH MAYBE AN INCH OR SO SCATTERED ABOUT CENTRAL AND EAST. KEPT IN BLOWING SNOW MENTION CENTRAL AND EAST WITH GUSTY WINDS ACCOMPANYING THE SNOW SQUALLS. STRONG WINDS AND SNOW CHANCES WILL DIMINISH LATER THIS EVENING AND AFTER MIDNIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE ADVECTS EAST OVER THE FORECAST AREA ALONG WITH MID LEVEL RIDGING OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. FOR TUESDAY THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS AND WAA MOVES INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS. A TIGHT TEMPERATURE GRADIENT WILL EXIST WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE STATE WITH MID TEENS NORTHEAST AND NEAR 40 SOUTHWEST. WAA CONTINUES TUESDAY NIGHT AS SOUTHERLY SURFACE FLOW CONTINUES AHEAD OF THE NEXT CLIPPER SYSTEM. +4 TO +8 850H TEMPS ALONG WITH DECENT MIXING WEDNESDAY WILL BRING ONE LAST DAY OF MILD WEATHER TO THE REGION. BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT BITTER ARCTIC AIR SLAMS IN FROM THE NORTH...PLUMMETING TEMPS WEDNESDAY NIGHT DOWN TO THE SINGLE DIGITS SOUTH AND BELOW ZERO NORTH. LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT... MAIN FEATURE IN EXTENDED PERIOD WILL BE THE VERY COLD ARCTIC AIR THAT WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE PERIOD. FIRST ARCTIC FRONTAL PASSAGE OCCURS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. WENT WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS INSTEAD OF FLURRIES WITH THIS FRONT. CURRENT FORECAST LEAVES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY DRY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE DEEP COLD AIR. GFS BRINGS IN ANOTHER ARCTIC FRONT NEAR THE END OF THE PERIOD...SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. ADDED MORE SNOW SHOWERS WITH THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE. KEPT NORTHWEST WINDS MODERATE. WIND CHILLS WILL LIKELY BE A MAJOR CONCERN DURING THIS PERIOD. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM NOON CST /11 AM MST/ TODAY TO MIDNIGHT CST /11 PM MST/ TONIGHT FOR NDZ003-011-019>023-025-035>037-046>048- 050-051. HIGH WIND WARNING FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR NDZ031>033-040-041-043-044. HIGH WIND WARNING FROM NOON CST /11 AM MST/ TODAY TO MIDNIGHT CST /11 PM MST/ TONIGHT FOR NDZ034-042-045. WIND ADVISORY FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING TO 10 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR NDZ001-002-009-010-017-018. && NH/WAA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 450 AM CST MON JAN 8 2007 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-091100- 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- 450 AM CST MON JAN 8 2007 /350 AM MST MON JAN 8 2007/ 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...TODAY AND TONIGHT ...A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA WEST OF THE MISSOURI RIVER THROUGH THIS EVENING... ...A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT OVER NORTHWEST AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THROUGH THIS EVENING... ANOTHER STRONG ALBERTA CLIPPER WILL MOVE FROM ALBERTA SOUTHEAST INTO MINNESOTA TODAY. AS A RESULT STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 45 MPH...WITH GUSTS OF 50 TO 60 MPH...ARE EXPECTED. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE OVER SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH THROUGH THIS EVENING AND AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AN ARCTIC BLAST OF COLD AIR WILL PUSH INTO THE FORECAST AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...BRINGING MUCH COLDER AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES TO THE NORTHERN PLAINS. BITTER COLD ARCTIC AIR WILL THEN PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. NH
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
NWS Mesonet 2 miles south of New Salem measured wind speed of 55 mph gusts to 72 mph. NWS Mesonet at Saint Anthony measured wind speed of 41 mph gusts to 53 mph.
North Dakota Department of Transportation Mesonet at Fryburg measured wind speed of 40 mph gusts to 53 mph.
NWS Mesonet at Killdeer measured wind speed of 42 mph gusts to 62 mph.
NWS Mesonet at Antelope measured wind speed of 59 mph gusts to 70 mph.
Communications tower at Elgin was completely bent over where the top was touching the ground.
NWS Mesonet at Selfridge measured wind speed of 40 mph gusts to 54 mph.
NWS Mesonet 1 mile southeast of Lincoln measured wind speed of 46 mph gusts to 68 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, January 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: 5924, 5893, 5897, 5910, 5913, 5922, 5936, 5938, 5921, 5930, 5901.