Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota · 2008

EF0 tornado, Sharon, North Dakota, July 7, 2008

Name: EF0 tornado, Sharon, North Dakota, July 7, 2008
Start: 2008-07-07T22:30:00.000Z
Location: Sharon, North Dakota

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Steele County on July 7, 2008, touching down at 5:30 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $2,000 of property damage.

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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: July 7, 2008
Touchdown: 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Path length: 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width: 25 yards (23 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2,000
County: Steele County
Touchdown point: 47.570, -97.840
Lift-off point: 47.570, -97.840
Record number: 0807071630-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An area of low pressure moved along the Canadian border on Monday (7th) and developed several severe thunderstorms. A triple point, or the intersection of multiple boundaries, formed in north central North Dakota, and resulted in several tornado reports.

A brief touchdown was observed near highway 32. Gravel was thrown across the road. Peak winds were estimated at 65 mph.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Jul 7, 3:51 PM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 3:51 PM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
351 PM CDT MON JUL 7 2008

.DISCUSSION...
MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS PRECIPITATION. WHEN LOOKING AT THE LATEST
SURFACE ANALYSIS...AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE EXTENDS THROUGH CENTRAL
ND INTO NE SD ALONG A MOT TO BWP LINE. KMVX HAS TWO AREAS OF
TSRA...ONE MOVING INTO DVL AREA AND ANOTHER IN NW AND WC MN. WHEN
COMPARING THE MODELS...THE MODELS HAVE SIMILAR TIMING...BUT DIFFER
ON LOCATION AND TRACK OF SURFACE LOW. CONTINUED TO USE ADJMAVBC
FOR TEMPS AND NAM FOR POPS.

WITH MULTIPLE SVR WARNINGS ALREADY ISSUED TODAY...NO CAP...UP TO
1500 MLCAPE AND GOOD BOUNDARIES FOR STORMS TO DEVELOP ON...EXPECT
STORMS TO CONTINUE INTO THIS EVENING. THUS...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MOST OF E ND AND PARTS OF W AND WC MN
UNTIL 9 PM.

NEED TO FOREGO REST OF DISCUSSION DUE TO SVR WX PRIORITIES.

&&

.AVIATION...
IFR/MVFR CIGS AND VSBYS ASSOCIATED WITH EARLIER CONVECTION HAVE
BEEN SLOWLY ABLE TO LIFT INTO VFR THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...
ADDITIONAL CONVECTION ON COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO DROP CIGS TO MVFR
AGAIN WHEN PASS OVER TAF LOCATIONS. OTHERWISE...WINDS TO TURN FROM
NE TO NW AS THE EVENING PROGRESSES.

&&

.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...NONE.
MN...NONE.
&&

NG/HOPKINS

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 7, 6:44 AM CDT, 10 hours 46 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
644 AM CDT MON JUL 7 2008

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-081145-
WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS-
WEST MARSHALL-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-TOWNER-CAVALIER-
PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON-
GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-
RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY-
644 AM CDT MON JUL 7 2008

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PARTS OF
THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD EAST ACROSS THE RED RIVER
VALLEY INTO WESTERN MINNESOTA THIS MORNING. THESE STORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. THIS AFTERNOON MORE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD
FRONT OVER THE CENTRAL DAKOTAS. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME
SEVERE AS THEY MOVE INTO WESTERN PARTS OF THE REGION LATE THIS
AFTERNOON INTO EARLY EVENING. THE FAVORED LOCATION FOR STRONG STORMS
WILL BE WEST OF A LINE FROM LANGDON TO VALLEY CITY WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY HAZARDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

PERIODIC CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN TO THE REGION OVER
THE SECOND HALF OF THE WORK WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

VOELKER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 7, 3:07 PM CDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
307 PM CDT MON JUL 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0255 PM     HAIL             2 WNW CHURCHS FERRY     48.28N 99.23W
07/07/2008  E0.75 INCH       BENSON             ND   PUBLIC

&&

MEWENS

Local storm report, Jul 7, 3:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
349 PM CDT MON JUL 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0345 PM     TORNADO          5 N PERTH               48.79N 99.46W
07/07/2008                   TOWNER             ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            SHERIFF REPORTS TWO TORNADOES ONE 5 NORTH AND ONE 5 WEST
            OF PERTH.

&&

MEWENS

Local storm report, Jul 7, 4:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
400 PM CDT MON JUL 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0359 PM     HAIL             SHEYENNE                47.83N 99.12W
07/07/2008  E0.88 INCH       EDDY               ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

MEWENS

Local storm report, Jul 7, 4:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
417 PM CDT MON JUL 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0411 PM     TORNADO          7 SE ROCKLAKE           48.72N 99.14W
07/07/2008                   TOWNER             ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            BRIEF TOUCHDOWN THEN BACK INTO CLOUD

&&

MEWENS

Local storm report, Jul 7, 4:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
425 PM CDT MON JUL 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0425 PM     TORNADO          5 E ROCKLAKE            48.79N 99.14W
07/07/2008                   TOWNER             ND   OTHER FEDERAL

&&

MEWENS

Local storm report, Jul 7, 5:19 PM CDT, 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
519 PM CDT MON JUL 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0515 PM     HAIL             4 W SHARON              47.60N 97.98W
07/07/2008  E1.75 INCH       GRIGGS             ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

            AT THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 32 AND 45. GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL
            AND WALL CLOUD PASSING OVER HEAD.

&&

AHOMANN

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

10.5 hours before the tornado, 234 km from the path. July 7, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 247 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -38 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 374 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 693 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Grand_forks_afb (RDR), 54 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2008 tornado in North Dakota Every tornado in North Dakota since 1950 Warnings in force in North Dakota now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 7, 2008

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
July 7	2:23 PM CDT	EF0	Bottineau, ND	1.1	30
July 7	2:45 PM CDT	EF0	Rolette, ND	0.5	50		$8,000
July 7	2:50 PM CDT	EF3	Rolette, ND	20.6	250	3	$1.5 million
July 7	4:11 PM CDT	EF1	Towner, ND	12.0	150		$250,000
July 7	6:18 PM CDT	EF0	Walsh, ND	0.5	25
July 7	7:04 PM CDT	EF1	Green Lake, WI	1.1	75		$30,000
July 7	7:18 PM CDT	EF0	Walsh, ND	4.0	30

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.