North Dakota, 2008

Hail and Damaging Winds in North Dakota, July 26 to 27, 2008

July 26 to 27, 2008 · NWS BIS · 12 events in 8 counties and zones

In the late evening hours of Saturday, July 26th, Severe Thunderstorm Watch 756 was issued for southwest and south central North Dakota as a band of intense storms intensified over eastern Montana, in response to a low amplitude short wave trough cresting a broad upper level ridge. These storms moved into southern North Dakota.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$608,000
Crop damage
$25,000
Events
12

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.

In the late evening hours of Saturday, July 26th, Severe Thunderstorm Watch 756 was issued for southwest and south central North Dakota as a band of intense storms intensified over eastern Montana, in response to a low amplitude short wave trough cresting a broad upper level ridge. These storms moved into southern North Dakota. Most of the severe reports were of high wind. Other storms developed and quickly intensified over Emmons County, ahead of the main line of storms. Significant hail damage was reported at Linton, Emmons County. These storms weakened somewhat, but remained severe as they moved east.

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 Jul 26, 12:13 PM MST, 11 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 12:13 PM MST, 11 hours 11 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 26, 2:21 AM MST, 21 hours 3 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 213 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:22 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Bowman

When
July 26, 11:24 PM MST to 11:29 PM MST
Where
Bowman County, Bowman
Measured
56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
46.180, -103.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Adams

When
July 27, 12:10 AM MST to 12:17 AM MST
Where
Adams County, Hettinger
Measured
61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
46.000, -102.630

There were no damage reports.

Thunderstorm Wind, Hettinger

When
July 27, 12:34 AM MST to 12:40 AM MST
Where
Hettinger County, 0.48 mi W of Regent
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
46.420, -102.560

Thunderstorm Wind, Hettinger

When
July 27, 12:40 AM MST to 12:46 AM MST
Where
Hettinger County, 1.18 mi NW of New England
Measured
56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
46.540, -102.870

Thunderstorm Wind, Adams

When
July 27, 12:41 AM MST to 12:46 AM MST
Where
Adams County, Hettinger
Measured
60 kt (69 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
46.000, -102.630

Thunderstorm Wind, Grant

When
July 27, 1:00 AM MST to 1:30 AM MST
Where
Grant County, 14.62 mi SSE of New Leipzig
Measured
65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
COOP Observer
Coordinates
46.170, -101.850

A two foot in diameter tree was blown down and there was roof damage.

Hail, Emmons

When
July 27, 2:20 AM CST to 2:45 AM CST
Where
Emmons County, 1.5 mi W of Linton to 4 mi E of Linton
Measured
3 in hail
Property damage
$500,000
Crop damage
$25,000
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
46.270, -100.261

Very significant damage occurred in the city of Linton. Two automobile dealerships reported $110,000 damage total. Nearly every vehicle parked outside had some type of damage, either dents or cracked windows. Damage to structures, mainly roofs, eave troughs, and vents, was widespread throughout the city. Outside of town damage was reported to farm houses, outbuildings, and horse trailers. The hail swath was about five and a half miles long and a mile wide, right through Linton. Crop damage was minimal in comparison as the storm hailed itself out about 4 miles east of town. Little crop land was affected.

Thunderstorm Wind, Hettinger

When
July 27, 1:30 AM MST to 1:45 AM MST
Where
Hettinger County, 0.48 mi W of Regent
Measured
65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates
46.420, -102.560

Power lines were reported down and three grain bins were destroyed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Emmons

When
July 27, 3:35 AM CST to 3:40 AM CST
Where
Emmons County, Hague
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Newspaper
Coordinates
46.030, -99.980

Thunderstorm Wind, McIntosh

When
July 27, 4:00 AM CST to 4:10 AM CST
Where
McIntosh County, 9 mi W of Ashley
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
46.030, -99.558

Report at Venturia.

Thunderstorm Wind, Logan

When
July 27, 4:45 AM CST to 4:50 AM CST
Where
Logan County, Fredonia
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
46.330, -99.100

Hail, Dickey

When
July 27, 5:25 AM CST to 5:27 AM CST
Where
Dickey County, Fullerton
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
46.170, -98.420

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 2008

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: 114481, 114482, 114483, 114484, 114485, 114486, 114488, 114487, 119185, 119025, 119029, 119016.