North Dakota, 2013

Funnel Clouds in North Dakota, October 11, 2013

October 11, 2013 · NWS FGF · 2 events in 1 county or zone

A vertically stacked low pressure system moved north-northeast through eastern North Dakota during the late afternoon and early evening of October 11th. Despite the lateness of the season, the system produced several funnel clouds.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 FGF wrote it up.

A vertically stacked low pressure system moved north-northeast through eastern North Dakota during the late afternoon and early evening of October 11th. Despite the lateness of the season, the system produced several funnel clouds.

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 11, 2:31 PM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 11, 2:31 PM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 11, 4:54 AM CST, 11 hours 46 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
554 AM CDT FRI OCT 11 2013

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-121100-
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-
554 AM CDT FRI OCT 11 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE
INTO THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. AFTER A BRIEF BREAK IN THE
ACTIVITY THROUGH THE LATE MORNING...ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP BY AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME
SEVERE...PARTICULARLY ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA INTO WEST
CENTRAL MINNESOTA. WHILE THE INSTABILITY IN THE ATMOSPHERE MAY NOT
BE AS HIGH AS IT WOULD BE DURING THE SUMMER...THE STRONG LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM COMING IN WILL PRODUCE WINDS FAVORABLE TO MAKING
STORMS ROTATE. SOME ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE...MAINLY SOUTH
OF THE HIGHWAY 200 CORRIDOR. HAIL AND WINDS COULD ALSO BE A
THREAT. THE STORMS WILL QUICKLY DIE OFF AS THE SUN GOES DOWN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

JR

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 11, 3:23 PM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
423 PM CDT FRI OCT 11 2013

NDZ028-029-038-112230-
BARNES ND-GRIGGS ND-STEELE ND-
423 PM CDT FRI OCT 11 2013

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR WESTERN STEELE...EASTERN GRIGGS
AND CENTRAL BARNES COUNTIES UNTIL 530 PM CDT...

AT 422 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
THUNDERSTORM NEAR VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 50 MPH.

HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE
EXPECTED WITH THE STORM.

THE STORM WILL BE NEAR...
ROGERS AROUND 430 PM CDT.
DAZEY AROUND 440 PM CDT.
WALUM...SIBLEY AND LUVERNE AROUND 445 PM CDT.
HANNAFORD AROUND 450 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 4765 9825 4763 9778 4686 9790 4688 9822
TIME...MOT...LOC 2123Z 184DEG 44KT 4698 9808

HOPPES

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:41 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Griggs

When
October 11, 4:40 PM CST
Where
Griggs County, 2.32 mi NE of Cooperstown
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
47.470, -98.080

A funnel cloud was briefly observed.

Funnel Cloud, Griggs

When
October 11, 5:43 PM CST
Where
Griggs County, 3.81 mi E of Revere
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
47.360, -98.250

A weak funnel cloud was reported.

What these are

Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, October 2013

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 475197, 475198.