EF0 tornado, Sherbrooke to Mayville, North Dakota, June 7, 2017

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF0

Date

June 7, 2017

Touchdown

12:59 PM CDT (17:59 UTC)

Lifted

1:10 PM CDT (18:10 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

3.0 miles (4.8 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Steele and Traill counties

Touchdown point

47.620, -97.500

Lift-off point

47.655, -97.453

Record number

1706071159-01

There were two different focus areas on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017. First, a cold front would exit into central Minnesota during the afternoon, spawning a few thunderstorms. Then, behind this front, an upper level disturbance would move into the Red River Valley during the late morning and early afternoon. The upper level disturbance proved to be the main weather producer for the day. Many factors came into play, helping to make this an ideal day for cold core tornadoes. Along with the upper level disturbance, there was abundant sunshine and good heating through the morning, which resulted in a frontal boundary and an area of surface low pressure setting up along the western edge of the Red River Valley. Between roughly noon and 2 pm, 8 tornado warnings and 1 severe thunderstorm warning were issued over the central and northern Red River Valley.

This tornado was viewed by the Grand Forks Air Traffic Control Tower for nearly 11 minutes, and was initially estimated as being 7 miles southwest of the Grand Forks airport. The tornado had a dramatic dust swirl which was captured on video and photos. Some ground scarring was evident, otherwise no damage was detected. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph. The tornado continued into Traill County, where it ended one mile north of Hatton at 1210 pm CST.

This tornado began in Steele County, about two miles west-southwest of Hatton at 1159 am CST. This tornado was viewed by the Grand Forks Air Traffic Control Tower for nearly 11 minutes, and was initially estimated as being 7 miles southwest of the Grand Forks airport. The tornado had a dramatic dust swirl which was captured on video and photos. Some ground scarring was evident, otherwise no damage was detected. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.

This tornado was viewed by local residents. Peak winds were estimated at 75 mph.

This tornado produced a tall dust swirl but little apparent damage. Peak winds were estimated at 75 mph.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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 Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:55 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 2017 tornado in North DakotaEvery tornado in North Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in North Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

8 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.