Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota

2013 tornadoes in North Dakota

16 tornadoes touched down in North Dakota in 2013, 30 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2012 2014 The whole country in 2013

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 2013

May 31 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 311:53 PM CDTEF0Walsh0.125
May 312:17 PM CDTEF0Walsh2.325

June 3 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 34:15 PM MDTEF0Bowman0.020
June 35:20 PM MDTEF0Golden Valley0.020$5,000
June 36:05 PM MDTEF0Adams0.330

June 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 47:16 PM CDTEF0Richland0.120

June 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 206:11 PM CDTEF0Barnes0.120

June 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 254:12 PM CDTEF0McHenry1.820

July 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 93:54 PM CDTEF0Morton1.850$95,000

July 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 127:45 PM CDTEF0Sargent0.120

July 21 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 215:42 PM CDTEF0McHenry4.550
July 219:08 PM CDTEF1Ramsey1.5100

August 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 64:13 PM CDTEF0Richland0.5100
August 64:26 PM CDTEF1Richland3.0150

August 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 307:10 PM CDTEF0Morton2.530

August 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 314:05 PM CDTEF0Pembina1.020

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.