A strong upper level trough and surface cold front approached the region on the afternoon and evening of March 28. During that time thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts developed along a pre-frontal surface trough.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 BIS wrote it up.
A strong upper level trough and surface cold front approached the region on the afternoon and evening of March 28. During that time thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts developed along a pre-frontal surface trough. Strong non-convective wind gusts also developed as the trough moved through. A second round of strong non-convective wind gusts developed overnight into the early morning hours of March 29 behind the cold front. There were very few damage reports to the National Weather Service. Reports included roof damage in Bowman County and tree damage in Stark County.
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 Mar 28, 1:41 PM MST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 341 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 341 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES LOW SLIDING THROUGH SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN WITH COLD FRONT SWEEPING THROUGH CENTRAL MONTANA. UPPER LEVEL ANALYSIS PLACES RIDGING OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WITH POTENT SHORT WAVE WORKING THROUGH CENTRAL MONTANA. SOME CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF THE ADVANCING SYSTEM...WITH SOME LIGHTNING STRIKES NOTED OVER EASTERN MONTANA. GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE AREA AHEAD OF THE FRONT OVER OUR AREA...WITH TEMPERATURES PUSHING WELL ABOVE AVERAGE. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT...EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE THEIR EASTWARD PROGRESSION SPREADING INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT. LATEST HIGH-RES MODELS SUGGEST THE POSSIBILITY OF 2 ROUNDS OF PRECIPITATION WITH THE INITIAL ROUND MOVING THOUGH PRE-FRONTAL AND THE SECONDARY ROUND COMING LATER THIS EVENING WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD OVERALL REMAIN TAME...THOUGH WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A FEW STRONG WIND GUSTS DEVELOP WITH HIGH BASED STORMS. PRE-FRONTAL PRESSURE RISES PUSH MAINLY THROUGH WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA BUT NUDGE INTO SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA BRINGING STRONG AND GUSTY WESTERLY WINDS. LATER IN THE EVENING COLD FRONT SLIDES THROUGH WITH WINDS SHIFTING NORTHWESTERLY AND BECOMING GUSTY THROUGHOUT ALL OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. ON SUNDAY...WINDS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGH THE DAY WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING AS FRONT AND SHORT WAVE PUSH WELL OFF TO THE EAST AND RIDGING RE-DEVELOPS. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 341 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 ACTIVE NORTHWEST FLOW AND ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WILL BE THE FOCUS OF THE LONG TERM. NUMEROUS CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION ARE FORECAST...AS NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL DOMINATE THROUGH THE EXTENDED. THE CURRENT 12Z MODEL SUITE PROJECTS SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS THROUGH THE LONG TERM. MUCH OF THE ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE RAIN...ALTHOUGH PERIODS OF SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT/EARLY MORNING HOURS. THERE IS STRONG MODEL SUPPORT FOR WARM AIR ADVECTING INTO THE STATE FROM THE CONUS SOUTHWEST...RESULTING IN TEMPERATURES NEARING 20 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE THROUGH MID WEEK. NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED BY THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH THE PROJECTED ARRIVAL OF A COLD FRONT. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 341 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 LCL MVFR CIGS OVER KJMS WILL ERODE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE AREA AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. LCL -TSRA WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON OVER WESTERN AREAS...WITH CHANCES SPREADING INTO CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING. VARIABLE AND GUSTY WINDS POSSIBLE WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS. STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHES IN TONIGHT WITH WINDS BECOMING WEST/NORTHWESTERLY AND BECOMING STRONG AND GUSTY. AREAS OF MVFR CIGS WILL DEVELOP WITH THE FRONT. CIGS WILL IMPROVE SUNDAY FROM WEST TO EAST WITH WINDS SLOWLY DIMINISHING. && .FIRE WEATHER... ISSUED AT 341 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 WELL ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES AS LOW AS 20 PERCENT WILL CONTINUE TO COMBINE WITH GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS TO BRING CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO FAR SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. WINDS WILL SWITCH TOWARDS THE WEST LATER TODAY INTO EARLY THIS EVENING AND INCREASE AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WHICH WILL SLIDE THROUGH LATER TONIGHT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING WHICH MAY RESULT IN DRY LIGHTING ALONG WITH STRONG AND ERRATIC WIND GUSTS. && .BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 10 AM CDT SUNDAY FOR NDZ002-003-010-011-019>021-034. HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ SUNDAY FOR NDZ031>033-040>045. RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR NDZ031-032-040- 041-043-044. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM CDT SUNDAY FOR NDZ001-009-017-018. WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 1 PM CDT SUNDAY FOR NDZ004-005-012- 013-022-023-025-035>037-046>048-050-051. && SHORT TERM...JJS LONG TERM...JJS AVIATION...JJS FIRE WEATHER...JJS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 310 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 NDZ031>033-040>045-292015- GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-STARK-SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN-ADAMS- SIOUX- 310 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 /210 PM MDT SAT MAR 28 2015/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW...THOUGH AN ISOLATED STRONG WIND GUST IS POSSIBLE. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS AROUND 45 MPH ARE LIKELY SATURDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING...AND A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED. SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR MORE DETAILS. A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THE STRONG WINDS WILL DIMINISH SUNDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CALL IN STRONG WIND REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK AT 1-800-247-0212 OR RELAY REPORTS TO US VIA OUR FACEBOOK PAGE. && MORE WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT WEATHER.GOV/BIS. NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-034>037-046>048-050-051-292015- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-WARD- MCHENRY-PIERCE-MCKENZIE-DUNN-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS- FOSTER-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-STUTSMAN-EMMONS-LOGAN-LA MOURE- MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 310 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW...THOUGH AN ISOLATED STRONG WIND GUST IS POSSIBLE. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF AROUND 40 MPH ARE LIKELY TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING...AND A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED. SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL DIMINISH SUNDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && MORE WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT WEATHER.GOV/BIS. JJS/ACOOP
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
459 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015
NDZ009-017-282230-
MCKENZIE ND-WILLIAMS ND-
459 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2015
...THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS POSSIBLE ACROSS WESTERN
MCKENZIE AND SOUTHWESTERN WILLIAMS COUNTIES...
AT 457 PM CDT...357 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
WAS TRACKING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 8
MILES NORTHWEST OF TRENTON TO 12 MILES EAST OF CRANE...AND MOVING
EAST AT 40 MPH.
WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE...
WILLISTON...
ALEXANDER...
TRENTON...
SATHER DAM...
CHARBONNEAU...
RAWSON...
SPRING BROOK...
ARNEGARD...
EPPING...
IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A
STURDY BUILDING.
LAT...LON 4812 10406 4825 10404 4834 10332 4754 10345
4747 10405
TIME...MOT...LOC 2158Z 260DEG 34KT 4818 10391 4757 10400
AYDThe Glasgow radar (KGGW), 245 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:24 UTC.
9 high wind, 7 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The National Weather Service received no reports of damage.
A roof was blown off of a large grain bin and half of a roof was blown off a hangar.
Sustained wind speed is estimated based off of the report from the Beach Airport in Golden Valley County.
The National Weather Service received no reports of damage.
The National Weather Service received no reports of damage.
The National Weather Service received no reports of damage.
A large dead tree was blown over in Gladstone.
The National Weather Service received no reports of damage.
The National Weather Service received no reports of damage.
The gust speed is estimated based off of the report from the Tatanka Prairie RAWS located in Sioux County.
The gust speed is estimated for southern Stark County.
The gust speed is estimated for northern Adams County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, March 2015
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: 566070, 566088, 566104, 566889, 566903, 563227, 566072, 566073, 563226, 566075, 566077, 566064, 566079, 566905, 566907, 566908.