Cold air aloft and daytime heating combined to create some late morning and afternoon instability. In addition, an upper level disturbance tracked through the area at the same time.
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.
Cold air aloft and daytime heating combined to create some late morning and afternoon instability. In addition, an upper level disturbance tracked through the area at the same time. These conditions helped produce large hail and several cold-air or cold-core funnel clouds.
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 Aug 18, 9:03 AM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 1003 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1003 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 FORECAST THINKING REMAINS VALID AND ONLY MINIMAL CHANGES ARE REQUIRED FOR TODAY. CURRENTLY...THE RADAR INDICATES MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTHERN VALLEY INTO NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. THIS ACTIVITY IN AN AREA OF HIGHER 850MB MOISTURE AND WEAK WARM AIR ADVECTION...WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE MORNING HOURS. ANTICIPATE COVERAGE OF SHOWERS TO INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON ALONG AND EAST OF THE VALLEY WITH COLD POOL OVERHEAD COMBINED WITH SOME HEATING (AND SYNOPTIC FORCING). PWATS WILL REMAIN AROUND 1.4 INCHES...AND LOCALIZED HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE...INSTABILITY EXPECTED TO REMAIN WEAK CONSIDERING LOW CONVECTIVE TEMPS KEEPING CLOUDS AROUND...AND VERY WEAK DEEP LAYER SHEAR. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 EARLY AM WV IMAGERY SHOWS THE MAIN UPPER LOW PUSHING SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS MANITOBA. CONVECTION THAT FIRED LATE YESTERDAY HAS WEAKENED...BUT SOME RE-DEVELOPMENT HAS OCCURRED OVERNIGHT AS THE UPPER FORCING STRENGTHENS ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW. WITH A WEAK SFC TROUGH ACROSS THE REGION AND GENERALLY LIGHT WINDS...SOME FOG HAS DEVELOPED...MOST NOTABLY IN WC MN. THE FOG HAS BEEN QUITE DENSE TO THE SOUTHEAST OVER CENTRAL MN...SO A CONCERN OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS WILL BE FOG COVERAGE AND DENSITY IN THIS AREA. THE MAIN CHALLENGE LATER IN THE DAY WILL BE PRECIP CHANCES. WITH THE SFC TROUGH SLOWLY WORKING EAST AND THE UPPER LOW SOUTHEASTWARD...EXPECT SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDER (ALTHOUGH SEVERE IS NOT EXPECTED). THE NAM/GFS/ECMWF ALL INDICATE THE HIGHEST QPF WILL BE ACROSS THE EASTERN CWA...CLOSER TO THE SFC TROUGH AND STRONGEST UPPER FORCING THIS AFTERNOON. PWATS WILL BE AROUND 1.4 INCHES THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE EAST...SO THERE WILL BE SOME HEAVIER DOWNPOURS IN SPOTS. CURRENT FORECAST TEMPS ARE IN THE MID/UPPER 70S...BUT CLOUD COVER WILL PLAY A ROLE ON TEMP TRENDS TODAY. THE UPPER LOW WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS NORTHERN MINNESOTA TONIGHT. MUCH OF THE AREA WILL DRY OUT OVERNIGHT...WITH SOME SHOWERS PERSISTING MAINLY EAST OF THE VALLEY. WITH LIGHT WINDS AND NOT MUCH CHANGE IN SFC MOISTURE...THERE COULD SOME FOG DEVELOPMENT POTENTIALLY. WEAK SFC RIDGING WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION TUESDAY UNDERNEATH SHORTWAVE RIDGING ALOFT. THE UPPER LOW ACROSS THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES MAY BE CLOSE ENOUGH TO PROVIDE A FEW DIURNAL SHOWERS/STORMS EAST OF THE VALLEY. WOULD ALSO EXPECT DIURNAL CU DEVELOPMENT TO BE GREATEST IN THIS AREA. OTHERWISE...TUESDAY SHOULD BE A PLEASANT DAY WITH LIGHT WINDS AND SEASONABLE TEMPS. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 340 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 UPPER TROUGHING DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN US BY TUESDAY NIGHT WILL AID IN SFC LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS...WITH SFC WINDS BECOMING SOUTHERLY DOWNSTREAM. THE GLOBAL MODELS DEPICT A SHORTWAVE TROUGH LIFTING NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE N PLAINS ON WEDNESDAY AS THE UPPER FLOW BECOMES SOUTHWESTERLY. THE GEM/NAM/ECMWF ARE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE TIMING AND POSITION OF THE WAVE...WHILE THE GFS IS FARTHER SOUTH. THE MODEL CONSENSUS WOULD YIELD THE HIGHEST RAIN CHANCES LATE WED/WED NIGHT WITHIN THE WARM...MOIST ADVECTION ZONE AHEAD OF THE WAVE. TEMPS WILL CONTINUE NEAR AVERAGE FOR MID-WEEK. 00Z RUNS OF ECMWF/GEM/GFS ALL INDICATE A 500 MB TROUGH OVER WRN CANADA INTO NRN ROCKIES. SEVERAL SHORT WAVES WILL COME OUT OF THE EASTERN PACIFIC INTO THE NRN ROCKIES AND THEN INTO NRN PLAINS IN THE THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY PERIOD. TIMING AND STRENGTH OF EACH WAVE IS AS YOU SUSPECT VARIABLE RUN TO RUN AND MODEL TO MODEL. BUT SOME AGREEMENT IS THAT ONE SUCH WAVE AND RAIN MAKER WILL MOVE ACROSS THURSDAY WITH ANOTHER SYSTEM FRI NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. GRADUALLY COOLER THRU THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z TUESDAY MORNING) ISSUED AT 655 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 TODAY WILL BE A CHALLENGING AVIATION FORECAST. THERE WILL BE PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...WHICH WILL DIMINISH THIS EVENING. WITH THE SCATTERED NATURE OF THE PRECIPITATION...TIMING OF SHOWERS/STORMS AT ANY GIVEN SITE IS UNCERTAIN. THERE ARE ALSO SOME AREAS OF FOG AND IFR CIGS GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE RRV THIS MORNING. GENERALLY EXPECT GRADUALLY IMPROVING VSBYS AND CIGS THROUGH THE MORNING...ESPECIALLY AS WINDS TURN MORE WESTERLY AND NORTHWESTERLY DURING THE DAY. CONFIDENCE IS RATHER LOW ON HOW QUICKLY THIS WILL OCCUR. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && UPDATE...TG SHORT TERM...MAKOWSKI LONG TERM...MAKOWSKI/RIDDLE AVIATION...MAKOWSKI
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 446 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-190945- 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- 446 AM CDT MON AUG 18 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY INTO THIS EVENING. SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY THROUGH LATE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. JAM
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:21 UTC.
3 funnel cloud, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
This funnel was one of several brief and weak cold-air or cold-core type funnels which formed throughout the late morning and afternoon hours.
This funnel was one of several brief and weak cold-air or cold-core type funnels which formed throughout the late morning and afternoon hours.
The hail varied from dime to quarter size across northwest Noltimier Township.
This funnel was one of several brief and weak cold-air or cold-core type funnels which formed throughout the late morning and afternoon hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, August 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: 528426, 528427, 528425, 528428.