EF3 tornado, Dickinson, North Dakota, July 8, 2009

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF3

Date

July 8, 2009

Touchdown

8:15 PM MDT (02:15 UTC)

Lifted

8:30 PM MDT (02:30 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

2.3 miles (3.7 km)

Path width

350 yards (320 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$20 million

County

Stark County

Touchdown point

46.855, -102.816

Lift-off point

46.860, -102.768

Record number

0907082015-01

In the mid afternoon hours of Wednesday, July 8th, Tornado Watch 563 was issued for all of western and parts of central North Dakota, due to the expected widespread and dangerous development and rapid intensification of thunderstorms near a surface trough along the western North Dakota border. Destabilization along the surface trough, coupled with the approach of a strong upper level trough and an intensifying late afternoon/early evening low level jet, all contributed to the watch issuance. Later Wednesday evening, Severe Thunderstorm Watch 565 was issued for much of central North Dakota to replace the expiring Tornado Watch, and specifically to account for a developing bow echo which was expected to push east across the watch area into the early morning hours of Thursday, July 9th.||The end result was a large severe weather outbreak experienced across much of west and central North Dakota, lasting from the late afternoon hours of the 8th, into the early morning hours of the 9th. Multiple severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings were issued. Numerous reports of large hail and severe thunderstorm wind gusts were received throughout this event. Several tornadoes occurred, including an EF3 within city limits on the south side of Dickinson. That tornado alone resulted in over twenty million dollars in damage.

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service conducted a storm damage survey in and around Dickinson on Thursday, July 9th, 2009. Meteorologists walked through the area and spoke with numerous people affected, many of whom were eye witnesses to the event.||This tornado passed through the city of Dickinson on the far south side, mainly just south of the Heart River. No witnesses spoken to actually saw the tornado. From their eye witness accounts, and from video obtained by the Dickinson Police Department, it is likely that this was a rain-wrapped tornado, and very difficult if not impossible to see. The tornado occurred before sunset, yet it was described as being as dark as night during the event.||The conclusion of the damage survey was that this tornado touched down around a mile or so outside the city limits, on the southwest side, and moved east-northeast, passing through the far southern part of the city. It lifted back into the parent thunderstorm on the extreme southeast side of Dickinson near the city limit. This occurred in the window between 815 PM MDT and 830 PM MDT.||Over 450 structures were damaged, of which nearly 100 were declared completely destroyed or beyond repair. Numerous vehicles were damaged or destroyed, some were on their roofs. Power lines were snapped, knocking out power to most of Dickinson, and tree damage was extensive. Two minor injuries were reported, with no deaths. The injuries were to a 23 year old male and a 42 year old male. Both occurred in homes.||The worst damage surveyed was between the Heart River and roughly 8th Street Southwest and 8th Street Southeast in southern Dickinson. Of that damage, the absolute worst corresponded to middle EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale. From that it was determined that peak wind speeds in the tornado were on the order of 150 mph.||Other parts of Dickinson and the surrounding area sustained wind damage likely associated with the rear flank downdraft of the storm.

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

5 minutes of warning. NWS BIS issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:10 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:26 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:43 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 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.

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:16 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in North DakotaEvery tornado in North Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in North Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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