Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota

2005 tornadoes in North Dakota

53 tornadoes touched down in North Dakota in 2005, 132 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2004 2006 The whole country in 2005

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 2005

May 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 8	8:45 PM CDT	F1	Griggs	0.3	15

May 20 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 20	4:05 PM CDT	F0	Steele	0.2	25
May 20	4:31 PM CDT	F0	Steele	1.0	50
May 20	4:33 PM CDT	F0	Traill	3.0	50
May 20	4:38 PM CDT	F0	Grand Forks	1.0	50
May 20	4:55 PM CDT	F1	Grand Forks	2.5	75
May 20	5:19 PM CDT	F1	Cass	3.0	75	$10,000
May 20	6:05 PM CDT	F0	Cass	0.7	50

June 1 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 1	7:33 PM MDT	F1	Hettinger	11.0	70
June 1	7:53 PM MDT	F1	Hettinger	16.0	70
June 1	8:45 PM MDT	F1	Stark	4.0	50

June 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 3	11:16 AM MDT	F0	Grant	1.0	30

June 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 6	8:30 PM MDT	F1	Stark	1.0	60
June 6	12:02 AM CDT	F1	Burleigh	1.0	60

June 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 7	8:19 PM CDT	F0	Emmons	0.0	20
June 7	11:10 PM CDT	F0	Dickey	0.0	20

June 8 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 8	4:27 PM CDT	F0	Pembina	3.0	50
June 8	4:37 PM CDT	F1	Pembina	5.0	100
June 8	4:53 PM CDT	F1	Pembina	3.0	100

June 11 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 11	2:15 PM CDT	F0	Richland	0.2	50
June 11	6:48 PM CDT	F0	Traill	0.2	50
June 11	6:52 PM CDT	F0	Traill	0.2	50

June 19 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 19	4:45 AM CDT	F1	Pierce	3.0	75	$250,000
June 19	4:56 AM CDT	F1	Benson	2.0	100
June 19	5:15 AM CDT	F1	Benson	0.2	100
June 19	5:18 AM CDT	F1	Benson	0.2	100
June 19	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Grand Forks	0.2	50
June 19	4:10 PM CDT	F0	Grand Forks	0.2	50

June 20 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 20	8:10 AM CDT	F1	Ransom	1.0	100
June 20	9:44 AM CDT	F1	Richland	7.0	100

June 23 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 23	2:58 PM CDT	F0	Benson	2.0	50
June 23	2:58 PM CDT	F0	Eddy	2.0	50
June 23	3:40 PM CDT	F1	Pembina	4.0	100
June 23	3:45 PM CDT	F0	Cavalier	0.2	25
June 23	4:14 PM CDT	F1	Walsh	2.5	100
June 23	4:18 PM CDT	F0	Pembina	2.0	50

June 26 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 26	5:50 PM CDT	F0	Sioux	2.0	20
June 26	6:31 PM CDT	F0	Sioux	2.0	30
June 26	6:49 PM MDT	F1	Hettinger	4.0	70
June 26	7:03 PM MDT	F1	Hettinger	3.0	60
June 26	8:40 PM CDT	F1	Sargent	1.0	100

June 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	3:25 PM CDT	F2	Sargent	8.0	200
June 29	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Richland	2.0	50

July 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 1	8:23 PM CDT	F0	Ward	0.0	30

July 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 2	7:04 PM CDT	F0	Renville	0.0	30

July 10 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
July 10	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Benson	0.3	25
July 10	8:57 PM CDT	F0	Pierce	0.0	30
July 10	9:55 PM CDT	F0	Benson	2.0	25
July 10	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Ramsey	1.0	25
July 10	11:10 PM CDT	F1	Cavalier	4.0	100

August 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 17	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Logan	0.0	30

September 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 5	7:50 PM CDT	F2	Cass	4.0	200
September 5	8:00 PM CDT	F1	Cass	1.5	100

Nearby

Every tornado in North Dakota since 1950 Warnings in force in North Dakota The 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.