By early in the evening of June 3rd, a surface boundary had crept into the Red River Valley. Dew point values, which had held in the 50s for much of the day, managed to rise into the low to mid 60s right along the boundary.
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.
By early in the evening of June 3rd, a surface boundary had crept into the Red River Valley. Dew point values, which had held in the 50s for much of the day, managed to rise into the low to mid 60s right along the boundary. Showers and thunderstorms fired up early in the evening along the boundary, producing tornado and funnel reports.
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 Jun 3, 2:05 PM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 305 PM CDT SUN JUN 3 2012 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY FORECAST CHALLENGES INCLUDE LOW-END PRECIPITATION CHANCES LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...FOLLOWED BY TEMPERATURES THROUGH MID-WEEK. GFS/NAM/ECMWF/GEM ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT AND WILL CONTINUE TO USE A BLENDED SOLUTION FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE... BUT PREFER RAP/HRRR/SPC 4 KM WRF FOR NEAR TERM CONVECTIVE TRENDS. SURFACE BOUNDARY IS LOCATED ALONG A LINE FROM CANDO TO JUST EAST OF BISMARCK. SPC MESOANALYSIS SHOWS 1500 TO 2000 J/KG OF SURFACE BASED CAPE WITH NO CIN ALONG THIS AXIS...BUT LOW-MID LEVEL DYNAMIC FORCING/SHEAR IS VERY WEAK. CU FIELD ALONG BOUNDARY MAY STILL PRODUCE A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG NOSE OF 300 HPA JET STREAK...BUT WITH NO RADAR ECHOES...WILL TRIM POPS BACK INTO THE 20 TO 40 PERCENT RANGE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. SPEED OF BOUNDARY IS ALSO A BIT SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED...SO WILL ADD 20 POPS ALONG AND EAST OF THE VALLEY IN THE 00 TO 03 UTC PERIOD. ELSEWHERE...LINGERING LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS NORTHWEST MN WILL MOVE EAST AND OUT OF THE FORECAST AREA NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE MINIMAL. FOR TONIGHT...EXPECT CLOUDS TO DECREASE FROM WEST TO EAST WITH MOSTLY SUNNY/CLEAR SKIES BY SUNRISE MONDAY MORNING. DESPITE CLEARING SKIES AND LIGHT WIND...NIGHTTIME LOWS WILL BE IN THE 50S WITH SURFACE TO 850 HPA LAYER TEMPERATURES FROM +16 TO +18 C. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE NATION/S MID-SECTION AS AN OMEGA BLOCKING PATTERN TAKES SHAPE WITH BOOKEND TROUGHS ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND NEW ENGLAND. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND WITH LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE...EXPECT DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT AND MOST OF WEDNESDAY. DID INTRODUCE A 20 POP WEST OF THE VALLEY ON WEDNESDAY AS PROMINENT SHORT-WAVE ROTATES AROUND PACIFIC NORTHWEST TROUGH...BUT THINK MAJORITY OF ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION WILL REMAIN SOUTH AND WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA. EXPECT LITTLE DAY TO DAY VARIATION IN TEMPERATURES THROUGH MID- WEEK AS THERMAL PROFILES ARE STAGNANT. HIGHS WILL CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S AND LOWS WILL BOTTOM OUT IN THE 50S TO LOWER 60S. OVERALL...A VERY PLEASANT BEGINNING TO THE FIRST FULL WORK WEEK IN JUNE. .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY MODELS INITIALIZED WELL AND REMAIN IN GENERAL AGREEMENT SO STAYED WITH A BLENDED SOLN FOR THIS FORECAST. LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED TO THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN AS IT IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN FAIRLY STAGNANT WITH THE RIDGE REMAINING OVER THE NRN PLAINS. SOME WEAKENING OF THE RIDGE IS EXPECTED...ALLOWING FOR INCREASED CHANCES OF -RW/TRW...WITH TEMPS STAYING NEAR TO ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED WITH CONTINUED CLOUDINESS ACROSS THE AREA AND PERSISTING THRU THE TAF PERIOD. SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL SLOWLY BECOME WESTERLY OVERNIGHT AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && ROGERS/HOPKINS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 709 AM CDT SUN JUN 3 2012 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-041215- 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-EDDY-NELSON-GRAND FORKS- GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-RICHLAND- WESTERN WALSH- 709 AM CDT SUN JUN 3 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT AREAS GENERALLY ALONG AND WEST OF THE RED RIVER VALLEY TODAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. VOELKER
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 500 PM CDT SUN JUN 3 2012 NDZ008-032230- PEMBINA ND- 500 PM CDT SUN JUN 3 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHERN PEMBINA COUNTY UNTIL 530 PM CDT... AT 459 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTH OF CAVALIER...OR 34 MILES NORTH OF GRAFTON...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THE STORM. THE STORM WILL BE NEAR... CAVALIER AROUND 505 PM CDT. BATHGATE AROUND 515 PM CDT. HAMILTON AROUND 525 PM CDT. JOLIETTE AROUND 530 PM CDT. BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IF THE STORMS INTENSIFY AND BECOME SEVERE...OR A WARNING IS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. LAT...LON 4889 9720 4866 9722 4884 9779 4900 9768 TIME...MOT...LOC 2200Z 293DEG 19KT 4889 9761 TG
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:14 UTC.
2 tornado, 1 funnel cloud, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
This tornado originated in Walsh County, North Dakota, at 1707 CST. The tornado tracked intermittently for about three miles in Marshall County, where it snapped tree limbs and branches in several shelterbelts along its track. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.
This tornado snapped several trees and tree limbs while scattering branches from at least three shelterbelts along its path. Shingles were torn from farm buildings. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.
This funnel was partially rain wrapped.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2012Warnings in Minnesota, June 2012
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: 378923, 378945, 378947, 374844.