A thunderstorm cell formed along a cold frontal boundary, producing several funnel clouds and a weak tornado.
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The episode as NWS FGF wrote it up.
A thunderstorm cell formed along a cold frontal boundary, producing several funnel clouds and a weak tornado.
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 9, 2:37 PM CST, 1 hour 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 337 PM CDT FRI SEP 9 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Saturday) Issued at 316 PM CDT Fri Sep 9 2016 cold front near an International Falls to Fargo line moving southeast. A few more showers behind the front but otherwise better coverage of showers and isolated t-storms a bit west in south central and western ND in an area of higher CAPE values (1000 j/kg). Still isolated shower or maybe a t-storm psbl through around 00z-01z into southeastern ND and west central MN behind the advancing front. CU field well to our north but it will clear out for the most part overnight. Some mid clouds with a wave moving into southern Saskatchewan may brush parts of the area overnight into Saturday morning. GFS gives a few precip patches with it but very much unsure if anything will last past sunset so will keep fcst dry overnight. Saturday will see diurnal cu form in the aftn as convective temps in the mid to upper 60s. .LONG TERM...(Saturday night through Friday) Issued at 316 PM CDT Fri Sep 9 2016 Dry weather continues on Sunday as daytime highs rebound into the upper 70s to near 80. The next FROPA will be on Monday as a very cool airmass sinks into the northern tier from Canada, bringing temperatures ranging from the upper 50s in northeast North Dakota to the upper 60s in west central Minnesota. Although some light showers and perhaps an isolated thunderstorm is possible, any activity will be very scattered in nature. The cold front will usher in very cool Tuesday morning temperatures, falling into the upper 30s in the Langdon area while remaining in the mid 40s across west central MN and the southern valley. Ridging over WY will keep the forecast dry through the middle of the week. This upper ridge flattens out and moves east Thu into Thu night, setting up a SW flow pattern aloft and a return to more active weather, with scattered showers and storms possible Thu and Fri. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Saturday afternoon) Issued at 1257 PM CDT Fri Sep 9 2016 Brief period of mvfr cigs behind the front this afternoon as it drops south...with lower clouds clearing after about 2-3 hours. So followed this trend southward this aftn. Then VFR tonight into Saturday. Suspect model RH progs a bit too high in terms of suggestive cloud cover. North winds behind the front 10-20 kts will calm down tonight. && .FGF Watches/Warnings/Advisories... ND...None. MN...None. && SHORT TERM...riddle LONG TERM...Riddle/Speicher AVIATION...Riddle
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 444 PM CDT FRI SEP 9 2016 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-102145- 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 COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON- GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT- RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY- 444 PM CDT FRI SEP 9 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 205 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:35 UTC.
1 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of brief funnel clouds were reported over southern Cormant Township, or east of the Lower Red Lake.
A waterspout-type tornado formed over the southeast corner of the Lower Red Lake, staying mainly over open water. Peak winds were estimated at 65 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2016Warnings in Minnesota, September 2016
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: 649361, 649359.