Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 458 was in effect during this event. Strong to severe thunderstorms over northeast Montana moved into northwest North Dakota during the evening as surface low pressure advanced into the Dakotas.
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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.
Severe Thunderstorm Watch number 458 was in effect during this event.
Strong to severe thunderstorms over northeast Montana moved into northwest North Dakota during the evening as surface low pressure advanced into the Dakotas. Thunderstorms continued to develop along an occluded front north of the low across northwest North Dakota. Several reports of large hail and severe thunderstorm winds were received.
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 3, 2:20 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 320 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT... MAIN CONCERNS TONIGHT INVOLVE THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER AND FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON LOW PRESSURE OVER THE HIGH PLAINS OF CENTRAL MONTANA IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST THROUGH NORTH DAKOTA TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA TONIGHT. THE MAIN AREA FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NORTHWEST INTO NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA BETWEEN 8 PM AND 3 AM CDT. WE EXPECT LINES OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE MAIN THREAT HAIL AND STRONG WINDS. ON WEDNESDAY...INDEPENDENCE DAY...THE COLD FRONT WILL BE THROUGH MOST OF THE REGION WITH SOME RESIDUAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY. COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL PUSH THROUGH THE STATE AND EXPECT A DRY EVENING FOR THE INDEPENDENCE EVENING CELEBRATIONS. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY... NO MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS ARE EXPECTED IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST WITH SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION CHANCES. THE BEST CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EXTENDED LOOKS TO BE LATE THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY IN A LOW LEVEL WARM AIR ADVECTION REGIME NORTH OF SURFACE WARM FRONT ACROSS NORTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA. AT THIS TIME...SEVERE CONVECTION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AS THE BEST INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN ACROSS SOUTH DAKOTA. THE RECENT HIGH HEAT AND HUMIDITY IS NOT ANTICIPATED DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH THE BROAD UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS RETROGRADING WESTWARD BY LATE NEXT WEEK...PLACING THE NORTHERN PLAINS INTO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. THIS WOULD FAVOR NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER 80S. OVERALL THE CONSENSUS OF THE DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE WAS FAVORED WITH LOWER WEIGHT GIVEN TO THE GFS PER RECENT POOR BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE VERIFICATION. && .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST THROUGH THE 18 UTC TAF CYCLE WITH THE MAIN HAZARD BEING THE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL LATE THIS EVENING AND THROUGH THE NIGHT. THE MOST LIKELY TERMINALS TO BE IMPACTED ARE KMOT AND KISN...WITH LESSER PROBABILITIES FOR THE SOUTHERN TAF SITES OF KDIK...KBIS AND KJMS. GIVEN THE GREATEST CONFIDENCE IN IMPACTS TO KISN...DID INTRODUCE A TEMPO GROUP WITH MVFR CONDITIONS IN A THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN 02-05 UTC THIS EVENING. && .FIRE WEATHER...SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS. ALTHOUGH RELATIVE HUMIDITY IS A BIT HIGHER THAN FORECAST...IT SHOULD BOTTOM OUT BETWEEN 25 TO 30 PERCENT. DRY PASTURE CONDITIONS CONTINUE EVEN THOUGH UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH OF RAIN FELL ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST TUESDAY MORNING. WILL CONTINUE THE REG FLAG WARNING THROUGH 8 PM MDT. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR NDZ040-043. && SHORT TERM...WAA LONG TERM....AYD AVIATION...AYD
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 738 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-031>036-040>046-050045- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS- GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-STARK-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-SLOPE- HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN-ADAMS-SIOUX-EMMONS- 738 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 /638 PM MDT TUE JUL 3 2012/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 458 IS IN EFFECT. PLEASE VISIT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN ON SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE SPOTTER NETWORK HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. PLEASE CALL 1-800-247-0212 WITH SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS. NDZ025-037-047-048-050-051-050045- FOSTER-STUTSMAN-LOGAN-LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 738 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN ON SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED FOR THE JAMES RIVER BASIN TONIGHT. TM
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 652 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 NDZ001-009-017-040030- DIVIDE-MCKENZIE-WILLIAMS- 652 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 2012 ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA... AT 645 PM CDT...OR 545 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA...ROUGHLY 63 MILES WEST OF CROSBY TO 95 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WILLISTON...MOVING EAST AT AROUND 40 MPH. WINDS UP TO 60 MPH...AND HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA BETWEEN 730 PM CDT AND 815 PM CDT. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE AHEAD OF THIS LINE. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 100 AM CDT. HEINERT/SIMOSKO
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 193 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:50 UTC.
10 hail, 4 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The strong winds blew down a tree onto a power line.
A twenty foot tall elm tree was knocked down.
A cattle wind break eight feet high was flattened and a wooden calf shelter was destroyed.
An estimated peak wind report was received in rural western Divide County.
Wind gusts to 50 miles per hour accompanied the large hail.
This report came from a campground just south of the Canadian border.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, July 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: 381490, 381491, 381492, 381496, 381505, 381493, 381497, 381498, 381499, 381500, 381501, 381502, 381503, 381504.