Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota · 2007

EF0 tornado, Sawyer, North Dakota, June 12, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 4.3 miles across Ward County on June 12, 2007, touching down at 3:30 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 12, 2007
Touchdown
3:30 PM CDT (20:30 UTC)
Lifted
3:38 PM CDT (20:38 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
4.3 miles (7.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Ward County
Touchdown point
48.094, -101.050
Lift-off point
48.131, -100.974
Record number
0706121430-01

What the Weather Service recorded

In the early afternoon of Tuesday June 12th, Tornado Watch 389 was issued in anticipation of severe thunderstorms developing during the afternoon hours. Several severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were issued. One report of a severe thunderstorm wind gust and two confirmed tornado reports were received during the mid afternoon hours. In addition, very heavy rain fell over large portions of central North Dakota, prompting several flash flood warnings during the late afternoon and early evening hours.

Tornado was produced from the same tornadic thunderstorm that was in north central Mclean County earlier. This was a seperate tornado as the one earlier in Mclean County completely lifted. The tornado remained over rangeland and impacted no structures.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

37 minutes of warning. NWS BIS issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:53 UTC, 37 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:02 UTC and running to 23:49 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
04:32 UTC09:44 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchBIS
05:18 UTC05:38 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBIS
07:13 UTC08:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBIS
19:02 UTC23:49 UTCTornado WatchBIS
19:53 UTC20:30 UTCTornado WarningBIS
20:29 UTC20:44 UTCTornado WarningBIS

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), 12:00Z

8.5 hours before the tornado, 151 km from the path. June 12, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2007-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 746 joules per kilogram, CIN -246, lifted condensation level 871 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2007-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
746 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-246 J/kg
Surface CAPE
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
871 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), 00:00Z

3.5 hours after it, 151 km from the path. June 13, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2007-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -90374, lifted condensation level 1144 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2007-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90374 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1144 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Minot_intl (MOT), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:54 UTC77610° 0 kt1012.2
19:51 UTC73.462.6270° 6 kt171011.9-TSRA
19:54 UTC7264 5 kt171012.2+TSRA
19:57 UTC69.864.4180° 11 kt1012.9+TSRA
19:59 UTC69.864.4220° 12 kt1013.2+TSRA FG
20:18 UTC66.262.6270° 14 kt181012.9+TSRA FG
20:43 UTC64.462.6220° 8 kt1014.6+TSRA BR
20:49 UTC64.462.6280° 12 kt1013.5+TSRA BR
20:50 UTC6562270° 13 kt1013.2+TSRA BR
20:54 UTC66.262.6260° 15 kt1013.2TSRA BR
20:58 UTC66.262.6270° 10 kt1013.2VCTS -RA BR
21:01 UTC66.262.6270° 9 kt1013.5-TSRA
21:15 UTC66.262.6300° 10 kt1013.5VCTS RA BR
21:54 UTC6764260° 11 kt1014.2-RA BR
22:08 UTC66.264.4280° 9 kt1014.2-RA

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
19:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 606 S DouglasMclean, NDACCOMPANIED BY TORRENTIAL RAIN...COOPERATIVE OBSERVER REPORTED 1.70 INCHES IN 20 MINUTES.
19:43 UTCTORNADO8 Ssw MaxMclean, NDTORNADO ON GROUND...GROWING IN SIZE.
20:30 UTCTORNADOSawyerWard, NDPUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR SAWYER.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in North DakotaEvery tornado in North Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in North Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 12, 2007

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1211:24 AM EDTEF0Saint Johns, FL1.050
June 122:43 PM CDTEF0McLean, ND6.250

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.