EF2 tornado, Hope, North Dakota, June 17, 2010

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

June 17, 2010

Touchdown

4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)

Lifted

4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

3.0 miles (4.8 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Steele County

Touchdown point

47.350, -97.620

Lift-off point

47.364, -97.572

Record number

1006171540-01

Conditions were ripe by the afternoon of the 17th for a major severe weather outbreak. A surface low had moved into east central North Dakota with an occluded front extending to the southeast. Warm and humid air was in place ahead of the front, with a much drier airmass pushing in behind it. The 500mb low was located over northwest North Dakota with a nice southwest to northeast upper jet pushing into eastern North Dakota. Two lines of convection formed by late afternoon, one from Roseau County down toward Eastern Otter Tail County and the other over east central North Dakota. Nearly all the cells that formed took on a classic hook shape with rotation very evident on radar imagery. Multiple tornado warnings were issued before the event wound down by mid evening. The strongest tornadoes were determined to be EF4 tornadoes, two in west central Minnesota and one in northeast North Dakota.

The tornado tracked northward for nearly 7 miles, to around 1 mile north of Blabon. The tornado produced severe tree damage in field and farm shelterbelts located along its path. Rear flank downdraft winds also produced tree damage at the Hope golf course. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.

The tornado tracked northward intermittently for nearly 7 miles. Trees were damaged in shelterbelts and farm yards. A center pivot irrigation system was tumbled and twisted near Colgate. Peak winds were estimated at 95 mph.

The tornado tracked northeastward for nearly 3 miles to around 8 miles east-northeast of Hope. Numerous trees were severely damaged in shelterbelts. An abandoned farmhouse was collapsed and other farm buildings were damaged. Peak winds were estimated at 125 mph.

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

31 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:09 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:45 UTC and running to 00:13 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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.

Grand_forks_afb (RDR), 69 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:38 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 2010 tornado in North DakotaEvery tornado in North Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in North Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

73 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 74 of them

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.