Large scale forcing associated with a dynamic upper level trough coincided with very strong deep layer shear and very steep mid level lapse rates to trigger rapid thunderstorm development and intensification across southwest and south central North Dakota. Thunderstorms began in the late evening hours of Tuesday, July 13th, and lasted into the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 14th.
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 BIS wrote it up.
Large scale forcing associated with a dynamic upper level trough coincided with very strong deep layer shear and very steep mid level lapse rates to trigger rapid thunderstorm development and intensification across southwest and south central North Dakota. Thunderstorms began in the late evening hours of Tuesday, July 13th, and lasted into the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 14th.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 469 was initially issued late Tuesday evening for portions of southwest and most of south central North Dakota through the early morning hours of Wednesday, with rapid thunderstorm development across the southwest already underway. Tornado Watch number 470 was issued early Wednesday morning for far south central North Dakota as intense supercellular thunderstorms with very large hail continued to develop and move east across far southwest and south central parts of the state. The intense thunderstorms eventually transitioned from very large hail producers to damaging wind producers as they moved east of the Missouri River and towards and into the James River Valley region.
Multiple severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were issued. Numerous reports of large hail, including a record tying hailstone, and several reports of damaging thunderstorm winds were received during this episode.
Damage from the very large hail was extensive and extreme. Hardest hit were Hettinger, Grant, Sioux, and Emmons Counties, where baseball to softball size hail fell. Some homes had hailstones crash completely through the roof. The large hail also killed several farm animals, and injured other livestock and pets. A North Dakota record tying hailstone, five inches in diameter, fell at Prairie Knights Resort located in eastern Sioux County. In addition, some areas in these counties experienced more than one wave of large hail. Later Wednesday morning, straight line winds up to 105 mph resulted in extensive damage over portions of Logan and LaMoure 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 Jul 13, 12:27 PM MST, 8 hours 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 227 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... THE SURFACE COLD FRONT HAS MOVED THROUGH MINOT AND GARRISON...BUT AS THE MODELS ADVERTISED THE FRONT HAS STAGNATED OVER THE BISMARCK AREA RESULTING IN A TILTED FRONT. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED BETWEEN BISMARCK AND JAMESTOWN. THE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST...BUT THE LINE IS MOVING SLOWLY NORTH. GOOD CAPE AND SHEAR INDICATE A POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES. SURFACE DEWPOINTS AND A K INDEX OF 35 OR BETTER ALSO POINT TOWARD THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN. MOST LIKELY SOME STORMS WILL PROMPT A SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD ADVISORY...BUT IF ANY TRAINING OCCURS...MAY NEED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING. THERE IS ALSO CONVECTION IN NORTHEAST MONTANA WHICH IS MOVING EAST...SO EVEN THOUGH THE DEWPOINTS AT WILLISTON AND DICKINSON HAVE DROPPED TO LESS THAN 50 DEGREES...CONTINUE TO SEE POTENTIAL FOR CONVECTION IN THE WEST TONIGHT. WEDNESDAY THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN AND MANITOBA. THIS IS FAVORABLE FOR STRONG WINDS...ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS AT THIS TIME THAT THEY WILL REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA. AGAIN...THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL FOR CONVECTION...MAINLY ACROSS THE NORTH AND FAR EASTERN COUNTIES. RIDGING ALOFT BEHIND THE LOW WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY SHOULD LIMIT THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. TEMPERATURES WILL TREND DOWN ON WEDNESDAY...BUT SHOULD SEE A RETURN TO WARMER TEMPERATURE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN CONTINUES TO ALLOW UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVES TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA ALONG WITH THEIR ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOWS. CONSEQUENTLY...THE LONG TERM FORECAST IS FOR OFF AND ON CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH SEASONAL TEMPERATURES. && .AVIATION...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...CAN BE EXPECTED THIS EVENING AS A SURFACE TROUGH MOVES FROM CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA INTO THE RED RIVER VALLEY. IN ADDITION THERE IS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BEHIND THE FRONT...ALTHOUGH WITH LOW SURFACE DEWPOINTS...BASES SHOULD BE FAIRLY HIGH. WEDNESDAY THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE NORTH AND EAST. STRONG WEST WINDS WITH STRONG GUSTS ARE LIKELY THROUGH THE AFTERNOON IN THE WEST AND CENTRAL PARTS OF THE STATE. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && TSW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 947 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 NDZ020-022-023-025-033>037-040>048-050-051-141100- OLIVER-SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER-STARK-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER- STUTSMAN-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN- LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 947 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 /847 PM MDT TUE JUL 13 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT AND MOVE ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHERN NORTH DAKOTA. SOME SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS THE MAIN THREATS. ISOLATED HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE...BUT IS NOT EXPECTED TO CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...BUT THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. NDZ001>005-009>013-017>019-021-031-032-141100- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-MCLEAN-GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS- 947 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 /847 PM MDT TUE JUL 13 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL THROUGH NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED...BUT A FEW STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL AROUND PENNY SIZE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT...BUT THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. KINNEY
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 619 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 NDZ023-140015- WELLS- 619 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT... AT 618 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER CENTRAL WELLS COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. PENNY SIZE HAIL...WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...AND FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. * THE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... FESSENDEN BY 625 PM CDT... HAMBERG BY 640 PM CDT... BREMEN BY 645 PM CDT... GUSTY WINDS MAY CAUSE SMALL BRANCHES TO BE BLOWN DOWN...AND LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THIS STORM HAS PASSED. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA UNTIL 10 PM CDT. SIMOSKO
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 647 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 NDZ034-042-045-140030- GRANT ND-MORTON ND-SIOUX ND- 647 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR NORTHERN SIOUX...SOUTHERN MORTON AND EASTERN GRANT COUNTIES UNTIL 730 PM CDT/630 PM MDT/... AT 540 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR RALEIGH...OR 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... FLASHER... BREIEN... IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY....AND A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA. BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS....FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. HEINERT
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
717 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0400 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 N MONTPELIER 46.74N 98.59W
07/13/2010 STUTSMAN ND TRAINED SPOTTER
EST 70 MPH. TREE UPROOTED, WOODEN BLDG DESTROYED, GRAIN
BIN TIPPED OVER, AND CROP DAMAGE...FLATTENED, STRAIGHT
LINE WINDS LIKELY.
&&
KSIMOSKOThe Bismarck radar (KBIS), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:16 UTC.
38 hail, 14 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds accompanied the large hail. The large hail resulted in damage to siding on a garage.
Specific damage estimates from the large hail were not available. This was the first wave of large hail for New Leipzig during this episode.
Elgin fire officials who were out spotting saw a funnel cloud just south of Elgin. The funnel did not reach the surface and quickly retreated back into the storm. The funnel cloud was made visible by lightning.
Specific damage estimates from the large hail were not available. This was the first wave of large hail in Elgin for this episode.
Strong thunderstorm winds accompanied the large hail.
Strong thunderstorm winds accompanied the large hail, and resulted in windows on the west side of a house broken.
The large hail resulted in two skylights and one window broken.
The large hail resulted in damaged vehicles at the Prairie Learning Center in Saint Gertrude.
Large hail accompanied the strong thunderstorm winds.
Strong thunderstorm winds combined with the large hail resulting in crop damage and all west side windows on a home broken.
City officials in Regent reported minor hail damage.
The large hail broke out the windsheild on a truck.
County officials reported up to baseball size hail in Mott. All vehicles left outside received major damage. The north side of homes sustained siding damage and broken windows. Roofs were also damaged from the large hail.
County officials reported up to softball size hail in Burt. All vehicles left outside received major damage. The north side of homes sustained siding damage and broken windows. Roofs were also damaged from the large hail.
Specific damage estimates from the large hail were not available.
A North Dakota state record tying hailstone of five inches in diameter fell at Prairie Knights Casino and Resort. The resort, and all vehicles outside, sustained severe damage from the extreme hail. One of these large hail stones crashed through the windshield of a car, injuring the two occupants. This tied the record size five inch diameter hailstone in Mercer County on August 3, 1969.
This was the second wave of very large hail to hit New Leipzig during this episode. Homes throughout the city experienced broken windows, damaged siding, and damaged shingles. Vehicles sustained heavy damaged as well.
Another round of large hail impacted the city of Mott.
This was the first of three waves of very large hail to impact the city of Cannon Ball during this episode. Severe damage to vehicles, homes, and crops occurred.
This was the second wave of very large hail to hit Elgin during this episode. Homes throughout the city experienced broken windows, damaged siding, and damaged shingles. Vehicles sustained heavy damaged as well.
Damage was sustained to area homes and vehicles. Crop damage was reported to be severe across central Emmons County.
A lightning strike caused a house fire in Elgin. The lightning bolt struck the chimney of the house, traveling into the basement starting a fire in the electrical wiring on all three levels of the home. When arriving on scene, fire officials reported that a metal antenna on the chimney of the home was glowing bright orange. No injuries or fatalities occurred. The home was determined to be a complete loss.
The large hail resulted in heavy damage to wheat and sunflower crops.
Damage amounts were estimated based on the extreme hail size.
Several low lying areas of County Highway 67 from north of Gackle to Interstate 94 showed signs of recent flash flooding. Water was flowing freely over one area, with severe erosion noted at other low lying areas along the highway.
The large hail was accompanied by strong thunderstorm winds.
This was the second wave of very large hail to impact Cannon Ball during this episode, resulting in further damage to homes, vehicles, and crops.
Broken windows resulted from the large hail.
A kill chute weighing about 1500 pounds was blown over. The strong thunderstorm winds also tore shingles off of a roof.
The severe thunderstorm winds blew down numerous tree branches, including one tree snapped off on the west side of Gackle. Other wind damage included a flag pole bent over and a television antenna blown off of a roof.
Corn fields across central LaMoure County were flattened by strong thunderstorm winds. Local residents were unsure if the corn was a partial or complete loss.
Corn fields across central LaMoure County were flattened by strong thunderstorm winds. Local residents were unsure if the corn was a partial or complete loss.
Corn fields across central LaMoure County were flattened by strong thunderstorm winds. Local residents were unsure if the corn was a partial or complete loss.
Heavy rain accompanied the strong thunderstorm winds.
Intense straight line thunderstorm winds damaged outbuildings on a farmstead just west of Grand Rapids. The roof on a barn was partially ripped off and a flag pole was bent over.
The most severe wind damage observed during the storm survey in LaMoure County occurred in the town of Grand Rapids. Significant and widespread tree damage was observed, including numerous mature hardwood trees uprooted or snapped in half. Damage was also sustained to buildings, which consisted of roof damage, damage to pole barns, and several grain bins destroyed. Hey bales of 1300 pounds were also blown up to 500 yards across farm fields.
The peak estimated wind speed of 105 mph was assigned based on damage indicators from the Enhanced Fujita Scale. It was later learned that wind sensing instruments on wind towers 10 miles west of Edgeley recorded a peak wind gust of 103 mph during the storm.
Large field irrigators were tipped over between Grand Rapids and LaMoure.
This was the third wave of large hail to impact the city of Cannon Ball during this episode.
The large hail damaged many area homes, campers, and vehicles. Damage to crops was limited as despite the large size of the hail, the aerial coverage of hail was spotty according to insurance adjusters.
Widespread tree damage was observed in the city of LaMoure, with most damage consisting of tree branches snapped off of trees. Some areas of the city also had trees uprooted or snapped in half. A pole barn west of LaMoure sustained heavy roof damage along with two large doors blown into the building.
The large hail resulted in vehicle damage and some crop damage.
Strong thunderstorm winds caused a small storage building under construction to collapse.
Damage was not reported with this severe thunderstorm wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 2010
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: 247668, 247670, 247737, 247671, 247672, 247673, 247674, 247675, 247676, 247677, 247678, 247679, 247680, 247682, 247685, 247686, 247687, 247731, 247689, 247690, 247691, 247692, 247693, 247696, 247694, 247703, 247699, 247741, 247704, 247700, 247701, 247836, 247707, 247705, 247709, 247710, 247829, 247711, 247712, 247742, and more.