Two rounds of storms occurred during this event. The first round started in the late evening of the 15th and lasted about two hours.
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.
Two rounds of storms occurred during this event. The first round started in the late evening of the 15th and lasted about two hours. Thunderstorms over eastern Montana moved into west central North Dakota before midnight.
The second round of storms started around five in the morning central time on the 16th and continued past daybreak. These storms rapidly intensified before sunrise as a nocturnal low level jet combined with strong instability and favorable deep layer wind shear.
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 15, 9:35 PM MST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 1135 PM CDT FRI JUL 15 2011 .UPDATE... POPS...WEATHER. && .DISCUSSION... UPPED POPS FOR CONVECTION MOVING INTO WESTERN ND. ADDED SEVERE WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FROM 1 PM CDT /NOON MDT/ SATURDAY TO 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ TUESDAY FOR NDZ011>013-019>023-025-034>037-042- 045>048-050-051. && UPDATE...NH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 534 AM CDT FRI JUL 15 2011 NDZ018>023-025-033>037-041-042-044>048-050-051-161045- DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER-STARK-MORTON- BURLEIGH-KIDDER-STUTSMAN-HETTINGER-GRANT-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN- LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 534 AM CDT FRI JUL 15 2011 /434 AM MDT FRI JUL 15 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. SOME OF THESE COULD BE SEVERE. HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO LIKELY WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 100 TO 110 ARE POSSIBLE EACH DAY DURING THIS PERIOD. THE LATEST INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN THE BISNPWBIS PRODUCT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. NDZ001>005-009>013-017-031-032-040-043-161045- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCKENZIE-GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-SLOPE-BOWMAN- 534 AM CDT FRI JUL 15 2011 /434 AM MDT FRI JUL 15 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. SOME OF THESE COULD BE SEVERE. HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO LIKELY WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY HEAT INDEX VALUES MAY APPROACH 100 DEGREES SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A HEAT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS OVER THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. TWH
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 228 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:11 UTC.
10 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong thunderstorm winds blew down several trees.
A tree that was two and one half feet in diameter, and 30 feet tall, was snapped.
Hail size ranged from ping pong ball to golfball sized. Strong winds up to 60 miles per hour accompanied the hail. The wind driven hail resulted in area crop damage.
Large hail accompanied the strong winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 2011
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: 330561, 330562, 330564, 330565, 330566, 330568, 330571, 330567, 330569, 330570, 330572, 330573, 330574, 330575, 330576.