Hail, Williams
- When
- July 21, 6:30 PM CST to 6:40 PM CST
- Where
- Williams County, 8.49 mi NNW of Trenton
- Measured
- 2.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 48.190, -103.890
There were no reports of damage with this large hail report.
Tornado and Hail in North Dakota, July 21, 2012
Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 500 was in effect during this event. A surface trough advancing into western North Dakota was the focus for convection during the evening hours.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 6
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS BIS wrote it up.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 500 was in effect during this event.
A surface trough advancing into western North Dakota was the focus for convection during the evening hours. Severe thunderstorms developed along this boundary over northwest North Dakota near a weak mid level short wave trough advecting east across far southern Canada. Severe convection was supported by effective shear magnitudes up to 50 knots and moderate instability. Several severe weather reports were received, including one EF0 tornado which briefly touched down in rural Divide County.
What forecasters said that day
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 21, 5:19 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 5:19 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 619 PM CDT SAT JUL 21 2012 .DISCUSSION...UPDATED THE FORECAST TO INCLUDE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 500 FOR THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF NORTH DAKOTA. LAPS ANALYSIS INDICATED SURFACE BASE CAPE VALUES APPROACHING 3000 J/KG IN EASTERN MONTANA AT 23Z. THIS AXIS OF INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO TRANSLATE EAST INTO THE WESTERN DAKOTAS IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS A SURFACE TROUGH SLOWLY MOVES EAST. FURTHERMORE...SURFACE-6KM SHEAR IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA IS BETWEEN 30-40 KNOTS. THE COMBINATION OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND INSTABILITY IS GENERATING AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE FOR ROTATING UPDRAFTS AND POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE UPDATED GRIDDED AND TEXT PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN SENT. && .AVIATION...FOR THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL REMAINS A THREAT FOR THE WESTERN AERODROMES OF KISN/KDIK. WILL CONTINUE WITH A VCTS UNTIL SOMETHING MORE DEFINITE DEVELOPS THAT WILL IMPACT A SPECIFIC AERODROME. OTHERWISE VFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES ARE FORECAST TO CONTINUE NEXT 24 HOURS. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && TM...UPDATE/AVIATION
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 21, 5:22 PM CST, 1 hour 8 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 622 PM CDT SAT JUL 21 2012 NDZ001-002-009-010-017-018-031>033-040-041-043-044-222330- DIVIDE-BURKE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-MCKENZIE-DUNN-GOLDEN VALLEY- BILLINGS-STARK-SLOPE-HETTINGER-BOWMAN-ADAMS- 622 PM CDT SAT JUL 21 2012 /522 PM MDT SAT JUL 21 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. PLEASE VISIT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNS TO THE FORECAST MONDAY...WITH A BETTER LIKELIHOOD OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...POSSIBLY SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED. NDZ003>005-011>013-019>023-025-034>037-042-045>048-050-051-222330- RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WARD-MCHENRY-PIERCE-MERCER-OLIVER- MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-STUTSMAN- GRANT-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN-LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 622 PM CDT SAT JUL 21 2012 /522 PM MDT SAT JUL 21 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO INITIATE ACROSS FAR WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING AND SPREAD INTO THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE STATE OVERNIGHT. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. HOWEVER...A WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNS TO THE FORECAST MONDAY...WITH A BETTER LIKELIHOOD OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...POSSIBLY SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. TM
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 5:26 PM CST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 626 PM CDT SAT JUL 21 2012 NDZ017-220015- MCKENZIE- 526 PM MDT SAT JUL 21 2012 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING WESTERN MCKENZIE COUNTY... AT 520 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER EAST CENTRAL RICHLAND COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL...WINDS GREATER THAN 40 MPH...ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. * THE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... RURAL MCKENZIE COUNTY AT 540 PM MDT GUSTY WINDS MAY CAUSE SMALL OBJECTS SUCH AS TRASH BINS TO BLOW AROUND. SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THIS STORM HAS PASSED. SIMOSKO
The radar
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 203 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:28 UTC.
Event by event
4 hail, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Williams
- When
- July 21, 6:42 PM CST to 6:47 PM CST
- Where
- Williams County, 8.15 mi NW of (Isn)sloulin Fld Wil
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 48.260, -103.780
Hail, Williams
- When
- July 21, 7:00 PM CST to 7:10 PM CST
- Where
- Williams County, 7.05 mi NNW of (Isn)sloulin Fld Wil
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 48.280, -103.680
Hail, Williams
- When
- July 21, 7:30 PM CST to 7:35 PM CST
- Where
- Williams County, Alamo
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 48.580, -103.470
Tornado, Divide
- When
- July 21, 9:10 PM CST to 9:15 PM CST
- Where
- Divide County, 4.17 mi S of Noonan to 4.14 mi S of Noonan
- Rating
- EF0
- Path length
- 1.13 mi
- Path width
- 30 yd
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 48.820, -103.010
This tornado briefly touched down in the open country of Divide County. There were no reports of damage associated with this tornado and it was rated EF0.
Thunderstorm Wind, Burke
- When
- July 21, 11:00 PM CST to 11:05 PM CST
- Where
- Burke County, 5.52 mi SW of Coteau
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 48.690, -102.400
Penny size hail and very heavy rain accompanied the strong winds.
What these are
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Rip Current in Florida, July 21, 2012
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Utah, July 21 to 24, 2012
- Rip Current in Michigan, July 21, 2012
- Damaging Winds in South Dakota, July 21, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Michigan, July 21, 2012
- Flash Flooding and Hail in North Carolina, July 21, 2012
- Damaging Winds in Florida, July 21, 2012
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, July 21, 2012
- Damaging Winds in Texas, July 21, 2012
- Damaging Winds and Heavy Rain in Arizona, July 21, 2012
- Flooding and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, July 21 to 22, 2012
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, July 21, 2012
More
Every storm in North Dakota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2012Warnings in North Dakota, July 2012
Sources
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: 390651, 390652, 390653, 390654, 390657, 390655.