Nocturnal thunderstorms formed along an elevated frontal boundary over southeast North Dakota. These storms did not produce hail, but did produce a destructive lightning strike.
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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.
Nocturnal thunderstorms formed along an elevated frontal boundary over southeast North Dakota. These storms did not produce hail, but did produce a destructive lightning strike.
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 Oct 11, 1:45 AM CST, 6 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 245 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 2008 .DISCUSSION... FORECAST CHALLENGE CONTINUES TO BE ONGOING RAIN THREAT/LOCATION AND TEMPERATURES. MODELS AGAIN INITIALIZED GOOD AND COMING INTO SLIGHTLY BETTER AGREEMENT. NAM STILL FARTHEST EAST WITH SURFACE LOW LIFTING N SUNDAY AND COLDEST. WILL CONTINUE TO USE FARTHER WEST/WARMER GFS SOLUTION BACKED BY SIMILAR ECMWF AND CANADIAN MODELS. GFS 300-305K SURFACE CONTINUES TO DEPICT CURRENT RADAR IMAGERY WELL RIDING UP COLD SIDE OF WELL DEFINED SURFACE INVERTED TROUGH. CURRENT BAND OF MOSTLY LIGHT -RA THROUGH SW-NE ORIENTED CENTRAL PORTION OF FA. ISENTROPIC LIFT GRADUALLY WEAKENS OVERNIGHT INTO SATURDAY AND BACK EDGE OF CURRENT BAND INTO FAR WESTERN FA. STILL SEEING SOME PCPN UPSTREAM OVER WESTERN SD ASSOCIATED WITH NEXT IMPULSE TO LIFT THROUGH FA TODAY. WARM ADVECTION NOT AS STRONG TODAY AS BAROCLINIC ZONE CONTINUES TO SHIFT W-NW. MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW CONTINUES WITH PRECIPITABLE H20 VALUES CLIMBING ABOVE AN INCH. WITH NW SHIFT OF BAROCLINIC ZONE AND WEAKER LIFT/WARM ADVECTION NEXT BAND OF -RA SHOULD NOT BE QUITE AS INTENSE AS YESTERDAY AND SHOULD BE NORTH OF AREAS HARDEST HIT WITH YESTERDAYS RAIN. WILL STILL MAINTAIN RELATIVELY HIGH POPS TODAY AS RAIN STILL LOOKS LIKELY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE BIG CHALLENGE AS TO WHETHER WARM ADVECTION CAN BOOST TEMPERATURES IN SPITE OF CLOUDS. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ADVECTION LIKELY TO AFFECT MINIMUM TEMPERATURES MORE THAN MAX. FOR THE MOST PART WILL LEAN TOWARDS SLIGHTLY COOLER MAX VALUES WITH CLOUDS. LATER TONIGHT LOW LEVEL JET CRANKS UP AHEAD OF EJECTING SURFACE LOW PROVIDING IMPRESSIVE CONVERGENCE TO WESTERN AND NORTHERN FA. ISENTROPIC LIFT ALSO STRONG AND NW HALF OF FA SHOULD SEE NEXT SHOT OF SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL. WITH BAROCLINIC ZONE CONTINUING TO SHIFT WESTWARD HEAVY RAIN BAND SHOULD AFFECT NORTHERN AREAS OF FA WHICH SO FAR HAVE ESCAPED SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL. WITH NO HEAVY BAND AFFECTING SUCCESSIVE AREAS THROUGH WEEKEND WILL HOLD OFF ON FLOOD WATCH HEADLINES BUT LATER SHIFTS WILL HAVE TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR THREAT. IN WARM SECTOR 50-55 DEWPOINTS SURGE NORTHWARD INTO FAR EASTERN FA AND WITH OVERLY MOIST AIRMASS BECOMES UNSTABLE. SOME CAPPING ISSUES AND LOW LEVEL JET CONVERGENCE FOCUSED TO THE WEST HOWEVER CANNOT RULE OUT POTENTIAL ALONG INVERTED TROUGH AND WILL KEEP MENTION GOING. MAIN JET CORE ROUNDS TROUGH AND EJECTS UPPER/SURFACE LOW NORTHWARD ON SUNDAY. HEAVIEST RAIN SHOULD BE DURING THE AM BEFORE FAVORED CONVERGENCE/WARM ADVECTION AND LIFT SHIFTS NORTHWARD INTO CANADA AND SHARP BAROCLINIC ZONE SHIFTS INTO THE CENTRAL/WESTERN DAKOTAS. THIS WILL PUT MOST OF FA INTO WARM SECTOR AND TEMPERATURES WILL HINGE GREATLY ON CLOUD TRENDS. WHILE INSTABILITY AND CAPE MINIMAL DOES APPEAR TO BE SOME LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITH NOSE OF 850MB JET POKING INTO SE PORTION OF FA AND THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME SOLAR SO WILL KEEP THUNDER MENTION GOING. DRY SLOTTING BEGINS TO AFFECT FA SUNDAY NIGHT SO WILL KEEP LOW POPS GOING. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FAR EAST COLUMN BEGINS TO COOL AND DRIER AIR WRAPS INTO SYSTEM. COLD POOL AND DEEPER WRAP AROUND RH REMAINS TO OUR WEST MONDAY AND DOES NOT ARRIVE TIL OVERNIGHT SO AM NOT PLANNING ANY CHANGES TO POPS. WITH NIGHT TIME ARRIVAL WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY AS PCPN LIKELY TO BE DIURNALLY DRIVEN. MID LEVEL FLOW TRANSITIONS INTO ZONAL PATTERN INTO MID WEEK AND WITH DEEPEST LAYERED RH NORTH OF BORDER WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY. NO BIG CHANGES TO LATER PERIODS. && .AVIATION...CIGS VARIABLE ACROSS FA RANGING FROM VFR OVER NW FA TO IFR OVER SE. WILL LIKELY SEE CONTINUED LOWERING CIGS FROM S-N AS MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW INCREASES. && .HYDRO... RIVER FLOODING MAY WELL GET GOING IN THE SOUTHERN BASIN NEXT FEW DAYS AS WATER RUNOFF INTO THE STREAMS. SOILS IN SRN VALLEY AND DVL BASIN ARE SATURATED. RAINFALL RATES APPEAR NOT ENOUGH TO CAUSE REAL FLASH FLOODING...BUT SOILS SUCH TO KEEP WATER FROM SEEPING IN FAST. .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && VOELKER
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 713 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 2008 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-121215- 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- 713 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 2008 ...MORE POTENTIALLY HEAVY RAIN HEADED FOR THE REGION TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION. MORE WIDESPREAD AND HEAVIER RAIN WILL DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL IS EXPECTED NORTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM LISBON TO MAYVILLE AND ROSEAU. RAIN TOTALS ARE LIKELY TO RANGE FROM 1 TO 2 INCHES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY RAIN...POSSIBLY HEAVY...WILL CONTINUE SUNDAY MORNING MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 2. RAIN SHOULD GRADUALLY END LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED FOR RAIN REPORTS. VOELKER
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:46 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a moving pickup truck on Highway 11, between Rutland and Cayuga. The three passengers were unharmed, but the pickup itself was damaged. The antenna, electrical systems, one tire, and the windshield were damaged on the vehicle and a small hole was created in the pavement on Highway 11.
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 historyWarnings in North Dakota, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 136431.