A severe thunderstorm produced quarter size hail in Pennington County in northwest MN during the evening. A cluster of storms moving into west central Minnesota also produced several brief weak landspout type tornadoes in Grant County, but produced no reported damage.
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.
A severe thunderstorm produced quarter size hail in Pennington County in northwest MN during the evening. A cluster of storms moving into west central Minnesota also produced several brief weak landspout type tornadoes in Grant County, but produced no reported damage.
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 21, 1:35 PM CST, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 235 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - There is a 2 of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening across portions of the area. Hazards could include damaging wind gusts to 75 mph, large hail up to the size of golf balls, and perhaps an isolated tornado. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 235 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 ...Synopsis... Ridging continues to retreat southwest this afternoon, with H5 troughing extending southward from an upper low, situated over Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue through the afternoon and early evening, with severe thunderstorms possible. A cold front traverses the area tonight into Friday morning, with much cooler and drier weather expected as we head into Friday afternoon and into the weekend. Look for highs in the 70s on Friday, with breezy west winds, then in the 60s for Saturday and Sunday with breezy northwest to north winds. Lows could fall into the low 40s Sunday night, with cooler spots possibly seeing upper 30s. Slightly warmer temperatures return on Tuesday as highs climb into the lower to middle 70s. ...Severe Thunderstorms this Afternoon and Evening... There is a conditional chance for scattered severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Dew points have climbed into the upper 60s to near 70 degrees following a prefrontal trough. West of this feature, instability is expected to climb upwards of 3500 J/Kg, along with deep layer shear ranging from 30-40 knots. Low level flow remains weak; however, near storm influences could allow low level shear to be locally supportive of hybrid supercells and clusters. Forcing is somewhat weak due to the lack of H5/H7 shortwave support and most of the initiation is likely to occur just ahead of the cold front, where the steepest theta-e gradients exist. Soundings continue to support upscale growth, with line segments potentially leading to damaging wind gusts as the afternoon progresses. DCAPE values are in the range of 1100 to 1300 J/Kg, along with PW values ranging from 1.3 to 1.7 inches. This should allow for moderate precip loading into any updraft that is able to initiate. Wind gusts of 75 mph are possible with today's strongest storms, along with hail up to the size of golf balls. Tornado risk continues to be present but overall generally low. Storm scale influences will play the biggest role for tornado risk as hybrid clusters could show more supercell characteristics in the presence of increased low level shear from nearby outflow boundaries. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 1239 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 MVFR conditions prevail where showers and thunderstorms are occurring this afternoon, with VFR conditions elsewhere. A cold front continues to work to the southeast this afternoon, bringing additional thunderstorm activity to most of the TAF sites. A few storms could become severe, with wind gusts and large hail being the primary risk. An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. Winds shift to the west and northwest this evening following the frontal passage. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && DISCUSSION...Lynch AVIATION...Lynch
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 MNZ004-007-NDZ007-008-016-026>030-038-049-052-054-222230- Kittson-West Marshall-Cavalier-Pembina-Eastern Walsh-Nelson- Grand Forks-Griggs-Steele-Traill-Barnes-Ransom-Sargent- Western Walsh- 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. .DAY ONE...Tonight There is a level 1 out of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening for northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and late afternoon and evening southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota. The main hazards will be potential for wind gusts to 75 mph and hail to golf ball size. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required today. NDZ006-014-015-024-222230- Towner-Benson-Ramsey-Eddy- 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated today. MNZ001>003-005-006-008-009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ039-053- 222230- West Polk-Norman-Clay-Roseau-Lake Of The Woods-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- Cass-Richland- 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota, west central and northwest Minnesota. .DAY ONE...Tonight There is a level 2 out of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening for southeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and late afternoon and evening southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota. The main hazards will be potential for wind gusts to 75 mph and hail to golf ball size. There is a low a low probability for isolated tornadoes. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required today.
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
546 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0529 PM Tornado 5 WSW Lamars 45.94N 96.78W
08/21/2025 Richland ND Trained Spotter
Observed tornado riding the North
Dakota/South Dakota state line.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
552 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0550 PM Tornado 2 SSW Lamars 45.94N 96.71W
08/21/2025 Richland ND Public
Tornado visible on Dakota Magic Casino
skycam. Location estimated via radar.
&&The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 175 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:20 UTC.
2 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Relayed from emergency manager. Brief landspout type tornado west of Norcross. No damage reported.
Relayed from emergency manager. Brief landspout type tornado northwest of Norcross. No damage reported.
Report of quarter size hail. Time estimated by radar.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2025Warnings in Minnesota, August 2025
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: 1282436, 1282438, 1282432.