Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota

1999 tornadoes in North Dakota

58 tornadoes touched down in North Dakota in 1999, 154 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1998 2000 The whole country in 1999

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in North Dakota in 1999

June 3 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 35:20 PM CDTF0McLean0.110
June 35:29 PM CDTF0Emmons0.210
June 35:43 PM CDTF0Burleigh4.00
June 35:50 PM CDTF0McLean0.510
June 35:50 PM CDTF1Burleigh2.030$70,000
June 36:15 PM CDTF2Kidder4.050$400,000
June 36:59 PM CDTF0McHenry0.510

June 6 20 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 612:25 PM CDTF0Sioux1.010
June 61:30 PM CDTF0Burleigh0.50$20,000
June 61:30 PM CDTF0Eddy0.50
June 61:45 PM CDTF0Eddy0.50
June 61:50 PM CDTF0Ramsey3.00
June 62:00 PM CDTF0Benson1.00
June 62:05 PM CDTF0Benson0.50
June 62:05 PM CDTF0Ramsey2.00
June 62:20 PM CDTF0Burleigh0.510
June 62:20 PM CDTF0Ramsey1.00
June 62:20 PM CDTF1Nelson2.00$100,000
June 62:30 PM CDTF2Walsh3.180$20,000
June 62:40 PM CDTF0Benson0.50
June 62:40 PM CDTF2Walsh3.0150$250,000
June 62:49 PM CDTF0Sheridan0.510
June 63:07 PM CDTF0Walsh0.50
June 63:15 PM CDTF0Pembina0.50
June 63:20 PM CDTF0Walsh0.50
June 63:20 PM CDTF4Pembina8.0500$1.0 million
June 63:30 PM CDTF0Pembina0.50

June 8 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 86:55 PM CDTF0Mountrail0.510
June 87:45 PM CDTF0Renville0.510

June 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 92:44 AM CDTF0Walsh0.50

June 13 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 132:05 PM MDTF1Mercer2.030$150,000
June 133:20 PM CDTF1Oliver29.050
June 132:29 PM MDTF0Morton18.00
June 134:10 PM CDTF0McKenzie1.00

June 20 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 208:15 PM MDTF0Golden Valley3.00$10,000
June 208:58 PM MDTF0Bowman2.020

June 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 259:10 PM CDTF1Sioux0.520
June 2510:24 PM CDTF1Burleigh3.030

July 13 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 136:45 PM CDTF1Ward9.050$150,000
July 137:19 PM CDTF1Ward2.030
July 137:50 PM CDTF1Ward11.060$120,000
July 1310:45 PM CDTF0Ramsey0.50
July 1311:30 PM CDTF0Nelson0.50
July 1312:55 AM CDTF0Walsh0.50

July 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 2510:31 AM CDTF0Barnes0.50$10,000

July 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 273:55 PM CDTF2Dickey2.040$800,000
July 275:00 PM CDTF0Richland0.50

August 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 116:15 PM MDTF1Adams2.040
August 116:59 PM MDTF0Adams0.520

August 15 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 154:50 PM MDTF0Mercer0.50
August 156:50 PM CDTF0McLean3.020
August 157:36 PM CDTF2Logan15.050$80,000
August 158:15 PM CDTF0Stutsman1.020
August 158:38 PM CDTF0Stutsman7.020
August 158:55 PM CDTF0Barnes0.50
August 158:57 PM CDTF2LaMoure28.5283$1.2 million
August 159:12 PM CDTF0Barnes0.50

August 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 227:40 PM CDTF0Cass0.50

Nearby

Every tornado in North Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in North DakotaThe live radar over North Dakota

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.