Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota

2009 tornadoes in North Dakota

30 tornadoes touched down in North Dakota in 2009, 31 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2008 2010 The whole country in 2009

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in North Dakota in 2009

June 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 161:00 PM CDTEF0Sioux0.120
June 162:00 PM MDTEF0Dunn0.120

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 186:04 PM CDTEF1Richland7.0300

June 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 245:28 PM MDTEF1Stark6.880$700,000
June 246:03 PM MDTEF0Stark18.850$75,000

June 26 13 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 265:30 PM CDTEF0Benson0.325
June 265:32 PM CDTEF0Nelson3.0100
June 266:30 PM CDTEF0Walsh3.2200
June 266:30 PM CDTEF1Grand Forks7.0200
June 266:35 PM CDTEF1Walsh3.1300$250,000
June 266:43 PM CDTEF0McLean0.520
June 266:55 PM CDTEF1Walsh3.6250$7,000
June 267:10 PM CDTEF0McLean0.120
June 267:22 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks0.125
June 267:43 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks0.125
June 268:35 PM CDTEF1Traill0.1100$150,000
June 269:12 PM CDTEF0Traill2.975$5,000
June 269:50 PM CDTEF0Traill1.075

June 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 272:45 PM CDTEF0Towner0.150
June 272:55 PM CDTEF0Towner0.250

July 8 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 86:05 PM MDTEF0Golden Valley0.530
July 87:15 PM CDTEF1Burke9.780$185,000
July 86:27 PM MDTEF0Billings0.140
July 88:19 PM CDTEF0Burke0.840$30,000
July 88:35 PM CDTEF0Burke1.840
July 87:45 PM MDTEF0Bowman1.030
July 88:15 PM MDTEF3Stark2.33502$20 million
July 89:30 PM CDTEF1Renville10.550$80,000

July 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 116:55 PM MDTEF0Stark4.030

October 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 910:00 AM CDTEF0Mountrail0.120

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.