Scattered thunderstorms over southwest North Dakota resulted in two separate reported damaging lightning strikes during the evening hours of July 7th. Multiple hay bales were burned resulting in several thousand dollars in damage.
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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 BIS wrote it up.
Scattered thunderstorms over southwest North Dakota resulted in two separate reported damaging lightning strikes during the evening hours of July 7th. Multiple hay bales were burned resulting in several thousand dollars in damage.
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 7, 2:15 PM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 415 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 2009 .SYNOPSIS... AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OFFSHORE WASHINGTON IS FORECAST TO EJECT SEVERAL MIDDLE LEVEL SHORTWAVES INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS AS THE MAIN BELT OF WESTERLIES RIDES OVER A BROAD SUBTROPICAL RIDGE CENTERED OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. THIS WILL KEEP NORTH DAKOTA ACTIVE IN TERMS OF PRECIPITATION FORECASTS. && .SHORT TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... AFOREMENTIONED SHORTWAVES PRESENT THE MAIN FORECAST UNCERTAINTY...WHICH IS RESULTANT SEVERE WEATHER THIS PERIOD. FOR THIS EVENING...IT APPEARS THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS THE AREA AND THAT THE BEST FOCUS FOR CONVECTION IS OVER THE EASTERN DAKOTAS. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO ARE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL...BUT GENERALLY SHOULD WIND DOWN AS MORE FAVORABLE KINEMATICS SHIFT EASTWARD. THE MAIN THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...EVENING...AND NIGHT. DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE BENEATH A RATHER STRONG JET STREAK IS FORECAST TO BE OVER SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. MEANWHILE...AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA AROUND 7 PM CDT...AND A WARM FRONT IS EXPECTED TO EXTEND OUT OF THE LOW EASTWARD ALONG THE DAKOTA BORDER. WARM MOIST AIR SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT MAY ADVECT NORTHWARD JUST FAR ENOUGH TO BREAK DOWN THE CAP ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE WARM FRONT. THERE...THE LOW LEVEL WIND FIELD WILL BE BACKED AND LARGE LOW LEVEL SHEAR MAGNITUDES WILL SUPPORT A TORNADO THREAT AS WELL AS LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ONCE LOW LEVEL CAPES DECREASE DUE TO LOSS OF SOLAR INPUT...THE THREATS WILL TRANSITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE LARGE SCALE ASCENT SUPPORTS A RAPID BREAKDOWN OF CAPPING...WHICH WOULD CAUSE A QUICK TRANSITION FROM DISCRETE SUPERCELLS TO A LINEAR SYSTEM WITH ASSORTED BOW ECHOES AND EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS/MESOCYCLONES. SO...IF DISCRETE STORMS ARE SLOW TO FORM THERE WILL BE LESS CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH NCEP/STORM PREDICTION CENTER THINKING AND REASONING FOR NOT UPGRADING TO A MODERATE RISK. IT DOES APPEAR THAT THE BEST CHANCE FOR TORNADOES WILL BE ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. OTHERWISE...ADDITIONAL SHORTWAVES ARE DUE TO EJECT INTO THE AREA WITH FAR LESS UNCERTAINTY AND VIGOR UNTIL THE LONG TERM. TEMPERATURES WERE LARGELY UNCHANGED WITH ONLY A SLIGHT NUDGING TOWARD LATEST 12 UTC GUIDANCE. .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... FAST...NORTHWEST FLOW IS FORECAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS THIS WEEKEND IN THE WAKE A DEPARTING UPPER LEVEL LOW INTO EASTERN CANADA. CERTAINLY...MINOR SHORTWAVES WILL BE EMBEDDED WITHIN THIS FLOW. HOWEVER...THE PREDICTABILITY OF THESE WAVES IS VERY LOW...AND WILL LEAVE OUT WIDESPREAD MENTION OF PRECIPITATION WITH THESE WAVES UNTIL FORECAST PREDICTABILITY INCREASES TOWARDS THE SHORT TERM. HOWEVER...SLIGHT CHANCE WORDING IS INCLUDED IN THE SOUTHWEST AND FAR SOUTH WHERE A LEE TROUGH IN EASTERN MONTANA WILL AID IN CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. THE NEXT MAJOR WAVE WILL PROPAGATE FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTO NORTHERN PLAINS EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE GFS SOLUTION IS ABOUT 12 TO 18 HOURS FASTER THAN THE ECMWF...THE GFS PLACING THE SYSTEM ON THE MONTANA BORDER MONDAY NIGHT...COMPARED TO MID TUESDAY ON THE ECMWF. HOWEVER...SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN WILL NOT BE OUT OF THE QUESTION WITH THIS WAVE EARLY NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE PERIOD WILL BE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW CLIMATOLOGY. && .AVIATION... IFR TO MVFR STRATUS ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA IN THE WAKE OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY MORNING WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY AT KBIS...KMOT...AND KJMS. AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE FAR WEST AND SOUTHEAST WILL SLOWLY DECREASE AFTER SUNSET...WITH LITTLE ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT. MID LEVEL CLOUDS SHOULD INCREASE FROM WEST TO EAST IN THE 09 TO 15 UTC TIMEFRAME IN ADVANCE OF THEN NEXT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE. A WARM FRONT WILL BE POSITIONED NEAR THE NORTH DAKOTA SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER WITH A COLD FRONT NEAR THE MONTANA BORDER BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR A POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK BEGINNING IN THE WEST LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...SPREADING EAST INTO THE OVERNIGHT. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SCHECK/PJA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 427 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 2009 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-082130- 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- 427 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 2009 /327 PM MDT TUE JUL 7 2009/ 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...TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA BEGINNING LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON IN THE WEST...AND SPREADING EAST INTO CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER CURRENTLY HAS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA IN A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER...BUT THIS MAY BE UPGRADED INTO A MODERATE RISK LATER ON. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE ISOLATED STRONG TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS...AND LARGE HAIL EARLY IN THE EVENING. THE SYSTEM SHOULD TRANSITION TOWARD A LINEAR STRUCTURE WITH THE MAIN THREATS DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL LATER IN THE EVENING AS IT PROGRESSES EASTWARD. CHECK BACK FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES. SLIGHTLY COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL ARRIVE THURSDAY AFTERNOON. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AND COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. THERE IS ANOTHER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS BY MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. KS/SCHECK
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:59 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two separate lightning strikes ignited hay bales near Richardton and Gladstone in Stark County. Eighty bales of hay were lost near Richardton, and one bale of hay was lost near Gladstone.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 2009
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: 186484.