Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota

2017 tornadoes in North Dakota

32 tornadoes touched down in North Dakota in 2017, 40 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2016 2018 The whole country in 2017

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 2017

June 7 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 712:49 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks0.425
June 712:59 PM CDTEF0Steele3.075
June 71:02 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks0.350
June 71:13 PM CDTEF0Traill0.5100
June 71:17 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks0.6100
June 71:18 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks1.0100
June 71:18 PM CDTEF0Traill4.0100
June 71:23 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks1.975

June 9 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 96:09 PM CDTEF0Cavalier2.0200
June 96:27 PM CDTEF1Cavalier1.3600$100,000
June 96:45 PM CDTEF2Cavalier18.0800$1.5 million
June 97:08 PM CDTEF2Benson8.0600$200,000
June 97:12 PM CDTEF1Pembina1.0200$200,000
June 97:34 PM CDTEF0Benson2.0200
June 98:27 PM CDTEF0Ramsey0.125
June 98:29 PM CDTEF0Eddy3.0150$10,000
June 99:32 PM CDTEF0Griggs0.175

July 11 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 115:16 PM CDTEF0Towner2.0150
July 115:39 PM CDTEF1Walsh1.5150$2,000
July 115:48 PM CDTEF0Cavalier0.4100
July 115:51 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks1.0100$2,000
July 116:25 PM CDTEF1Grand Forks5.9150$2,000
July 116:30 PM CDTEF1Walsh7.0150$4,000
July 116:50 PM CDTEF0Grand Forks5.81,150
July 116:58 PM CDTEF2Traill22.01,200$750,000
July 117:48 PM CDTEF2Traill to MN11.6600$800,000

July 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 199:35 AM CDTEF0Rolette0.325

July 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 218:50 PM CDTEF0Oliver0.225

September 1 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 15:30 PM CDTEF0Nelson0.150
September 15:38 PM CDTEF0Nelson6.0150
September 17:16 PM CDTEF0Griggs1.7150$1,000

September 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 194:41 PM CDTEF1Barnes3.7200$30,000

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.