Thunderstorms formed along a frontal boundary over western North Dakota in the afternoon in an environment with extremely high instability. Initial storms that developed produced a tornado over Mountrail County.
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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 BIS wrote it up.
Thunderstorms formed along a frontal boundary over western North Dakota in the afternoon in an environment with extremely high instability. Initial storms that developed produced a tornado over Mountrail County. The severe threat then quickly shifted primarily towards large hail as the storms progressed east.
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 Jul 20, 2:28 PM CST, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Bismarck ND 328 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday) Issued at 319 PM CDT Wed Jul 20 2016 Upgraded much of the Heat Advisory to an Excessive Heat Warning across much of south central North Dakota and into the James River Valley. Surface dewpoints in the upper 70s to the lower 80s are observed across these areas given strong evapotranspiration. With temperatures quickly climbing into the 90s, heat index values to 110 degrees are likely to continue to the afternoon and early evening. While dewpoints will mix out a bit the rest of the day, all guidance is under-doing surface dewpoints this afternoon. Regarding the severe convective threat this afternoon and evening, cumulus fields continue to develop across southwest and northwest North Dakota in the vicinity of weak surface confluence as of 2015 UTC. Strong instability is in place with effective deep layer shear of 35-50 kts. While coverage may be low, any storms that develop are favored to become supercellular with all threats possible. Storms through the afternoon and evening are likely to be tied to the aforementioned boundary as it propagates east. The 19 UTC KBIS sounding still shows some capping to overcome, yet, also supports the potential for very large hail with MU CAPE near 7000 j/kg. See the 20 UTC SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook for further details. .LONG TERM...(Thursday night through Wednesday) Issued at 319 PM CDT Wed Jul 20 2016 Cooling temperatures into the weekend and a possible severe thunderstorm threat Friday highlights the extended forecast. Overall, the 12 UTC suites are in agreement on the broad upper level ridge across the CONUS flattening Friday into the weekend, with near zonal flow into next week. This would favor a return to near normal temperatures. The next best chance for thunderstorms is Friday into Saturday as a wave possibly coming onshore to the pacific northwest on Thursday propagates into the Northern Plains. SPC has placed much of the area in a slight risk in their day 3 outlook. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Thursday afternoon) Issued at 319 PM CDT Wed Jul 20 2016 Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are possible late this afternoon and evening, especially across central North Dakota. A few storms could be severe with large hail and damaging winds. Storm coverage is expected to be low with impacts to the terminals uncertain at this time. && .BIS Watches/Warnings/Advisories... Excessive Heat Warning until 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ this evening for NDZ019>023-025-034>037-042-045>048-050-051. Heat Advisory until 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ this evening for NDZ010>013-018-033-041-043-044. && PJA
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 307 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 NDZ010>013-018-033-041-043-044-212015- MOUNTRAIL-WARD-MCHENRY-PIERCE-DUNN-STARK-HETTINGER-BOWMAN-ADAMS- 307 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 /207 PM MDT WED JUL 20 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT. IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP...SOME COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. PLEASE SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SOME SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. NDZ001>005-009-017-031-032-040-212015- DIVIDE-BURKE-RENVILLE-BOTTINEAU-ROLETTE-WILLIAMS-MCKENZIE- GOLDEN VALLEY-BILLINGS-SLOPE- 307 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 /207 PM MDT WED JUL 20 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT. IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP...SOME COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SOME SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. NDZ019>023-025-034>037-042-045>048-050-051-212015- MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER-MORTON-BURLEIGH-KIDDER- STUTSMAN-GRANT-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN-LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY- 307 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 /207 PM MDT WED JUL 20 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT. IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP...SOME COULD BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. PLEASE SEE WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BIS FOR FURTHER DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SOME SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT. PJA
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 424 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 NDZ003-010-011-202145- WARD ND-RENVILLE ND-MOUNTRAIL ND- 424 PM CDT WED JUL 20 2016 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHEASTERN MOUNTRAIL... SOUTHWESTERN RENVILLE AND NORTHWESTERN WARD COUNTIES UNTIL 445 PM CDT... AT 423 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER BLAISDELL...OR 12 MILES EAST OF STANLEY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH. NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... BERTHOLD...DES LACS...CARPIO...FOXHOLM...GREENE...PALERMO... DONNYBROOK...BLAISDELL...COULEE...TOLLEY...TAGUS AND HARTLAND. THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS AND AVAILABLE TELEVISION STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. LAT...LON 4812 10220 4844 10234 4878 10175 4816 10143 TIME...MOT...LOC 2123Z 243DEG 11KT 4832 10213 HARGROVE
The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:42 UTC.
21 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado touched down in a rural area south of Palermo and traveled nearly one mile. No damage, injuries, or fatalities were reported. No structures were impacted and so the tornado was rated EF-0.
The public estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 60 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Dakota in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Dakota, 2016Warnings in North Dakota, July 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: 652714, 651258, 651259, 651260, 651261, 651262, 651267, 651263, 651268, 651269, 651270, 651266, 651271, 651272, 651273, 651274, 651275, 651276, 651277, 651278, 651279, 651280, 651281, 651282, 651283.