Thunderstorms with embedded supercells formed near the upper level jet and moved into southeast North Dakota.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Thunderstorms with embedded supercells formed near the upper level jet and moved into southeast North Dakota.
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 May 24, 6:21 PM CST, 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 721 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 2008 .DISCUSSION...HAVE ALLOWED WIND ADVISORY TO EXPIRE AT 7PM. CURRENT WIND SPEEDS NOW JUST BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA...AND 925MB-850MB WINDS LOSE UNIDIRECTIONAL COMPONENT WITH SFC WINDS. MAIN CONCERN TONIGHT WILL BE SEVERE T-STORM POTENTIAL AND POP/WX FORECAST. THINK BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL BE 00Z-06Z TIMEFRAME...WITH BEST CHANCES ACROSS THE SW FA. WARM FRONT CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM SFC LOW ACROSS SE MONTANA INTO SW MN. ISOLD STRONG/SEVERE STORMS ARE CURRENTLY ORIENTATED ALONG THIS FEATURE...MOVING TO THE NE. FA WILL BE UNDER INFLUENCE OF UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE IN VICINITY OF LEFT EXIT REGION OF UPPER JET. THIS ALREADY CAN BE SEEN WITH BAND OF SHOWERS ACROSS E ND. STRONG LOW-LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION WILL PROPAGATE FROM S TO N THROUGH THE FA TONIGHT (WITH PASSAGE OF WARM FRONT). MODELS VARY WITH DEGREE OF INSTABILITY...BUT SHOWALTER INDEX VALUES NEAR -3C AND 850MB CAPE VALUES OF 500-1000 J/KG APPEAR LIKELY. DEEP LAYERED SHEAR 50-60KTS IS ACROSS THE W FA NOW (00Z)...AND THIS STRONGEST AREA OF DEEP LAYERED SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY MOVE EAST AND OUTRUN BEST INSTABILITY BY 06Z-09Z. THUS...TIMEFRAME OF NOW UNTIL 06Z WOULD BE BEST OPPORTUNITY FOR SEVERE WHEN BEST INSTABILITY COINCIDES WITH STRONGEST DEEP LAYERED SHEAR. ESPECIALLY ACROSS SW/WC FA (IN CLOSEST PROXIMITY TO WARM FRONT). WILL MONITOR CURRENT STORM ACTIVITY AND UPDATE WX GRIDS IF NECESSARY. CONFIDENCE IN SEVERE POTENTIAL NOT GREAT WITH SUNSET COMING QUICKLY. THINK STORMS WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE NIGHT...BUT MOSTLY BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. OTHERWISE...WILL LOWER POPS ACROSS THE FAR E FA THROUGH 04Z. SKIES CURRENTLY CLEAR HERE AND WILL TAKE A BIT MORE TIME TO SATURATE. && .AVIATION...THERE SHOULD BE SOME DECREASE IN WIND SPEEDS BETWEEN 00Z AND SUNSET. DIRECTIONS SHOULD STAY FAIRLY CONSTANT...IF ANYTHING...THEY MAY TREND A BIT MORE SOUTH-SE. TRIED TO INDICATE IN THE TAFS THE HIGHEST CONFIDENCE PERIOD FOR ANY RAIN. VERY COMPLICATED SETUP TO TRY TO TIME ANY RAINFALL...BUT IF ANYTHING DOES FALL...THINK IT WILL BE HIGH BASED SHOWERS/THUNDER. THIS IS TYPICALLY GENERATED BY LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LOW LEVEL...WITH A FAVORED TIME FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE EVENING TO AROUND MIDNIGHT. THE FA LOOKS TO BE IN THE DRY SLOT BY MORNING. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 313 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 2008/ SHORT TERM... ON SUNDAY LOW CENTER AND COLD FRONT SHOULD CONTINUE TO PUSH EAST ACROSS MINNESOTA. MODEL FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST BEST CONVECTIVE THREAT SHOULD BE ACROSS EASTERN PORTION OF FORECAST AREA. APPEARS ENOUGH LINGERING INSTABILITY ACROSS MINNESOTA LIS -5 AND SURFACE BASED CAPE TO 1000 J/KG FOR ISOLATED SEVERE POTENTIAL. ATTM SPC HAS FROM THE VALLEY EAST IN GENERAL THUNDER. MODELS HAVE TONED DOWN 12-36 HOUR QPF FORECAST AND IT APPEARS HPC HAS FOLLOWED SUITE ON THIS MATTER TOO. SUNDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY SURFACE PATTERN TRANSITIONS FROM LINGERING CYCLONIC FLOW SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY TO STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE SETTLING INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS WITH MUCH COOLER AIR WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS IN THE 30S MONDAY/TUESDAY MORNINGS. PER LATEST METAR TRENDS APPEARS AS THOUGH WIND ADVISORY MIGHT HAVE TO BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 03Z AS CURRENT DEEP LAYERED MIXING CONTINUES TO MIX DOWN 35 +KTS DOWN TO SURFACE. WILL BRIEF EVENING CREW ON SITUATION. LONG TERM WED-SAT... LONG TERM GUIDANCE APPEARS TO BE FAVORING THE ECMWF MODEL TODAY. HOWEVER...THERE IS ALSO AGREEMENT IN THE 12Z GFS AND THE CANADIAN MODEL AS WELL. AS FAR AS THE 500MB PATTERN...LOOKING AT A RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. EARLY ON...THEN THE RIDGE STARTS TO SHIFT EAST AS A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE MOVES IN. THE SFC PATTERN LOOKS FAIRLY SIMILAR...WITH A BROAD SFC HIGH OVER THE ENTIRE NORTHERN PLAINS FOR WED/THU. ACTUALLY HAVE FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE LONG RANGE MODELS FOR FRI/SAT IN DEPICTING LOW PRESSURE SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS. WILL THEREFORE KEEP OUT ANY MENTION OF PCPN FOR WED/THU...AND STICK WITH CHANCES FOR RAIN FRI/SAT. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && TG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 654 AM CDT SAT MAY 24 2008 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-251200- WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS- WEST MARSHALL-EAST MARSHALL-NORTH BELTRAMI-PENNINGTON-RED LAKE- EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN- SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN- WEST OTTER TAIL-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-TOWNER-CAVALIER- PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON- GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT- RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY- 654 AM CDT SAT MAY 24 2008 ...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... ...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THE RED RIVER VALLEY WESTWARD TODAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS. THESE STORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE DEVILS LAKE BASIN THIS AFTERNOON AND SHIFT EAST ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FEW OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY HAZARD. IN ADDITION STRONG SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED TODAY FROM THE RED RIVER VALLEY WESTWARD. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WHICH WILL DROP THROUGH THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. VOELKER
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:21 UTC.
2 hail, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A persistent funnel cloud produced a brief tornado touchdown.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2008Warnings in North Dakota, May 2008
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: 105382, 105374, 105375, 105373.