By the early morning hours of the 4th, an area of surface low pressure had moved into northeast South Dakota, with a warm front extending out to the east. Surface dew point values north of the front ranged in the lower 60s while south of the front they topped out around 70.
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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 FGF wrote it up.
By the early morning hours of the 4th, an area of surface low pressure had moved into northeast South Dakota, with a warm front extending out to the east. Surface dew point values north of the front ranged in the lower 60s while south of the front they topped out around 70. At 850 millibars, the low level jet pushed juicy air up into southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota, with drier air to the north. Finally, forty-five to fifty knot westerly winds at 500 millibars provided ample shear to the system. Thunderstorms over western and central North Dakota proceeded east and moved into Barnes County, North Dakota, during the first few hours of the 4th. These storms tracked nearly due east, finally exiting Wadena County, Minnesota, around sunrise. The strongest storms mainly stayed along and south of Interstate 94 in North Dakota and U. S. Highway 10 in Minnesota. These storms trained across the same areas as well, with some spots experiencing large hail or damaging winds two or three times during the event. In addition, heavy rainfall became a problem, resulting in some flash flooding.
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 Sep 4, 1:33 AM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 233 AM CDT THU SEP 4 2014 .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 230 AM CDT THU SEP 4 2014 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 492 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7AM FOR THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF CWFA. AS HAS BEEN ADVERTISED A VERY STRONG...FOR EARLY SEPTEMBER UP HERE...SEVERE WEATHER SCENARIO HAS DEVELOPED AND WILL IMPACT THE CWFA THROUGH 12Z TO 15Z. CLUSTERS OF STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS FORECAST TO DEVELOP AND MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN RED RIVER VALLEY WITH 60 TO 70 KTS BULK SHEAR...0-1KM CAPE TO 2000 J/KG AND 700 MB WAA. DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL THE MAIN RISK...BUT HIGH VGP IN THE LOWER 0 - 3 KM LAYER AND PRESENCE OF SHARP BOUNDARY SUPPORT ISOLD TORNADOES. STORMS SHIFT QUICKLY EAST BY 18Z. DRY SLOT MOVES IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST SO THE BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION IS CONFINED TO OUR EASTERN AND NORTHERN CWFA FOR THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. NORTHWEST WINDS BEHIND THE LOW MAY GUST TO NEAR 30 KTS... BORDERLINE WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA. WRAP AROUND RAIN/SHOWERS EXPECTED TO IMPACT MAINLY NORTHERN RED RIVER VALLEY 18Z - 06Z FRIDAY. FOR FRIDAY THE AREA SHOULD BE UNDER BROAD NORTHWEST FLOW WITH DIMINISHING WINDS. .LONG TERM...(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY) ISSUED AT 230 AM CDT THU SEP 4 2014 FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY SHOULD BE QUIET WEATHER AS SURFACE HIGH MOVES ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS. SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH NEAR ZONAL FLOW ALOFT AND VARIOUS SHORTWAVES MOVING INTO THE AREA...ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MINOR DIFFERENCES IN TIMING. WINDS SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH AHEAD OF A SFC TROUGH SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL BRING A WARMING TREND AND SOME CHANCES OF PRECIP BY MONDAY AS SOME MOISTURE RETURN OCCURS. BY MID WEEK...THE NEXT MORE SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVE DIGS INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS. THIS WILL HELP DRAG A PRETTY STRONG COLD FRONT DOWN INTO THE CWA. THERE SHOULD BE SOME PRECIP CONTINUING THROUGH TUESDAY WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...ALONG WITH TEMPERATURES DROPPING WELL BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGES BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 1144 PM CDT WED SEP 3 2014 SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TONIGHT. USED THE LATEST RADAR IMAGERY AND HI-RES MODEL GUIDANCE FOR TIMING. THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT EACH TAF SITE FOR AT LEAST A BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME. THE STRONG ACTIVITY WILL BE ACROSS SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...AND MAY AFFECT KFAR. BEHIND THIS PRECIP...ANTICIPATE A PERIOD OF MVFR CIGS FOR A FEW HOURS. THEN...VFR CONDITIONS AS WINDS BECOME WESTERLY (AND GUSTY). && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && SHORT TERM...EWENS LONG TERM...EWENS/JR AVIATION...TG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 556 PM CDT WED SEP 3 2014 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-041045- 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- 556 PM CDT WED SEP 3 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATER TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. THESE STORMS WILL BRING THE THREAT OF LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLY STRONG WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. JR/TG
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 219 AM CDT THU SEP 4 2014 MNZ002-003-NDZ029-030-039-040815- CASS ND-CLAY MN-NORMAN MN-STEELE ND-TRAILL ND- 219 AM CDT THU SEP 4 2014 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHERN CLAY AND WESTERN NORMAN COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...AND SOUTHERN TRAILL...EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN STEELE AND NORTHERN CASS COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 315 AM CDT... AT 217 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A THUNDERSTORM 16 MILES NORTHWEST OF CASSELTON...OR 31 MILES NORTHWEST OF FARGO...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THE STORM...ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING. THE STORM WILL BE NEAR... ARTHUR AND AMENIA AROUND 225 AM CDT. HUNTER AROUND 230 AM CDT. PROSPER AROUND 235 AM CDT. HARWOOD...GRANDIN AND GARDNER AROUND 245 AM CDT. FOR MOTORISTS ON INTERSTATE 29...THE STORM WILL BE BETWEEN...MILE MARKER 81 AROUND 245 AM CDT...AND MILE MARKER 99 AROUND 250 AM 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 4749 9655 4694 9632 4693 9757 4719 9766 TIME...MOT...LOC 0719Z 247DEG 33KT 4712 9734 JR
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 190 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:28 UTC.
7 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 5 flash flood, 2 tornado, 1 lightning, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning ignited a fire that destroyed one restaurant and badly damaged a second neighboring restaurant.
Trees were blown down in town.
A tornado tracked intermittently for about two miles, leaving a track through corn and grain fields. It tore down numerous two to three foot diameter hardwood trees and ripped shingles, roofing, and siding off a house. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.
Streets were flooded in south Moorhead.
A tornado wrapped in downburst winds and heavy rain tracked intermittently for about two miles across east central Newton Township. The tornado knocked down numerous trees and large tree branches, broke a few power poles, and overturned a hayrack along its route. Peak winds were estimated at 95 mph.
The hail fell at Big McDonald Lake.
A truck was blown off highway 210 near Battle Lake.
Several bouts of heavy rainfall flooded city streets. Water was reported to be over a foot deep in some areas.
A large number of trees and light poles were blown down in town, with several trees falling on homes.
The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor near Verndale.
The wind gust was measured at the Staples airport.
Several farm access roads and fields were flooded across Wolverton Township.
Numerous fields and farm access roads were flooded across Atherton and Prairie View townships.
Widespread street flooding occurred in Pelican Rapids along with the flooding of nearby fields and rural access roads.
Widespread heavy rain fell through the early morning and produced a large area of standing water, which flooded ditches and fields across portions of southern Red Eye, Rockwood, and North Germany townships.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2014Warnings in Minnesota, September 2014
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: 533369, 533370, 533371, 533372, 533373, 533375, 533377, 533378, 533388, 533380, 533381, 533382, 533383, 533390, 533384, 533385, 533386, 533392, 533393, 533394, 533397.