North Dakota, 2019

Flash Flooding and Hail in North Dakota, September 20 to 21, 2019

September 20 to 21, 2019 · NWS BIS · 17 events in 8 counties and zones

Thunderstorms developed mid-day along and ahead of a slowly advancing cold front over northwestern North Dakota in an unseasonably moist and unstable atmosphere. The storms then spread south and east through the day.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$980,000
Crop damage
$950,000
Events
17

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS BIS wrote it up.

Thunderstorms developed mid-day along and ahead of a slowly advancing cold front over northwestern North Dakota in an unseasonably moist and unstable atmosphere. The storms then spread south and east through the day. Some of the storms became severe with an initial threat of large hail, though some strong wind gusts were occurring by late day. The largest reported hail was the size of baseballs, which fell in Ward and Bottineau counties. The strongest reported thunderstorm wind gust was 62 mph, which occurred in Burleigh County. During the evening and overnight hours the primary threat switched to heavy rain, particularly over central North Dakota. Over southern portions of Wells and Sheridan Counties, up to seven inches of rain was reported resulting in washed out roads, crop damage, and hay bales partially submerged in water.

What forecasters said that day

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 Sep 20, 7:56 AM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 7:56 AM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 20, 7:58 AM CST, 2 hours 38 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 20, 10:10 AM CST, 26 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 129 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Mountrail

When
September 20, 10:36 AM CST to 10:39 AM CST
Where
Mountrail County, 0.46 mi W of New Town
Measured
1.25 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
47.980, -102.490

Hail, Mountrail

When
September 20, 11:35 AM CST to 11:39 AM CST
Where
Mountrail County, 0.46 mi E of Blaisdell
Measured
2.5 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
48.330, -102.060

Hail, Ward

When
September 20, 11:35 AM CST to 11:38 AM CST
Where
Ward County, 8.3 mi W of Berthold
Measured
2.75 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
48.330, -101.910

Hail, Bottineau

When
September 20, 12:35 PM CST to 12:39 PM CST
Where
Bottineau County, 4.97 mi NNE of Maxbass
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
48.780, -101.070

Hail, Bottineau

When
September 20, 12:40 PM CST to 12:42 PM CST
Where
Bottineau County, 6 mi N of Maxbass
Measured
2.75 in hail
Property damage
$30,000
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
48.807, -101.130

A window was broken on the home, and holes were punched in the siding.

Hail, Bottineau

When
September 20, 12:45 PM CST to 12:49 PM CST
Where
Bottineau County, 5.41 mi WSW of Westhope
Measured
2.25 in hail
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
48.890, -101.130

Windshields were broken on cars. Homes and mailboxes were damaged.

Hail, Ward

When
September 20, 1:12 PM CST to 1:15 PM CST
Where
Ward County, 3.1 mi WNW of Ryder
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
47.940, -101.730

Hail, Ward

When
September 20, 1:30 PM CST to 1:33 PM CST
Where
Ward County, 0.46 mi W of Burlington
Measured
2.75 in hail
Property damage
$200,000
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
48.280, -101.430

Vehicle windshields were broken. On homes, windows were broken and siding was damaged.

Hail, Ward

When
September 20, 1:56 PM CST to 1:59 PM CST
Where
Ward County, 1.96 mi ESE of (Mib)minot Afb
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
48.420, -101.330

Hail, Ward

When
September 20, 2:27 PM CST to 2:30 PM CST
Where
Ward County, 0.83 mi SSE of (Mib)minot Afb
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
48.420, -101.360

Hail, Emmons

When
September 20, 3:36 PM CST to 3:39 PM CST
Where
Emmons County, Linton
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
46.270, -100.230

Hail, Burleigh

When
September 20, 4:03 PM CST to 4:06 PM CST
Where
Burleigh County, 3.16 mi ESE of (Bis)bismarck Muni A
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
46.760, -100.690

Hail, Sheridan

When
September 20, 4:12 PM CST to 4:15 PM CST
Where
Sheridan County, 9.95 mi SSE of Denhoff
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
47.340, -100.220

Thunderstorm Wind, Burleigh

When
September 20, 4:12 PM CST to 4:14 PM CST
Where
Burleigh County, 5.85 mi ENE of Moffit
Measured
54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
46.700, -100.160

Hail, Morton

When
September 20, 5:42 PM CST to 5:44 PM CST
Where
Morton County, 0.48 mi W of Breien
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
46.380, -100.940

Flash Flood, Wells

When
September 20, 11:30 PM CST to September 21, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Wells County, 10.55 mi NW of Hurdsfield to 10.53 mi ENE of Cathay
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$500,000
Crop damage
$700,000
Reported by
Emergency Manager
Coordinates
47.574, -100.033

Deep flood waters flowed over many roads and caused damage throughout much of southern Wells County, where up to seven inches of rain fell from thunderstorms. Multiple roads were washed out and so closed for days. Parts of State Highway 200 and U.S. Highway 52 were closed resulting in major traffic detours. A part of State Highway 200 near Bowdon was washed out. The heavy rain also caused crop damage and yield loss. Hay bales were partially submerged in flood water. Soil erosion was extensive.

Flash Flood, Sheridan

When
September 20, 11:45 PM CST to September 21, 4:00 AM CST
Where
Sheridan County, 8.23 mi NNE of Goodrich to 10.67 mi N of McClusky
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$200,000
Crop damage
$250,000
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
47.574, -100.033

Flood waters a few feet deep washed over rural roads in southern Sheridan County damaging many of them. Just over six inches of rain was reported. Crops were damaged with significant soil erosion occurring.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Dakota in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in North Dakota, September 2019

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 854650, 854688, 854689, 854690, 854702, 854691, 854692, 854694, 854695, 854696, 854697, 854698, 854699, 854700, 854701, 856980, 857265.