Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota · 2017

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

Name: EF0 tornado, Hatton to Mayville, North Dakota, June 7, 2017
Start: 2017-06-07T18:13:00.000Z
End: 2017-06-07T18:15:00.000Z
Location: Hatton to Mayville, North Dakota

From Hatton to Mayville, this EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Traill County on June 7, 2017, touching down at 1:13 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.

The record

Rating: EF0
Date: June 7, 2017
Touchdown: 1:13 PM CDT (18:13 UTC)
Lifted: 1:15 PM CDT (18:15 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Traill County
Touchdown point: 47.520, -97.360
Lift-off point: 47.527, -97.336
Record number: 1706071213-01

What the Weather Service recorded

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 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 7, 12:56 PM CDT, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 7, 12:56 PM CDT, 17 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 7, 5:09 AM CDT, 8 hours 4 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
509 AM CDT Wed Jun 7 2017

MNZ001>004-007-029-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-
052>054-081015-
West Polk-Norman-Clay-Kittson-West Marshall-Wilkin-Towner-
Cavalier-Pembina-Benson-Ramsey-Eastern Walsh County-Eddy-Nelson-
Grand Forks-Griggs-Steele-Traill-Barnes-Cass-Ransom-Sargent-
Richland-Western Walsh County-
509 AM CDT Wed Jun 7 2017

This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North
Dakota, west central and northwest Minnesota.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

Isolated severe thunderstorms are possible Friday night. Quarter
sized hail and wind gusts to 60 mph will be the main threats.
Thunderstorms remain in the forecast throughout the Saturday to
Tuesday period.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not anticipated.

MNZ005-006-008-009-013>017-022>024-027-028-030>032-040-081015-
Roseau-Lake Of The Woods-East Marshall-North Beltrami-Pennington-
Red Lake-East Polk-North Clearwater-South Beltrami-Mahnomen-
South Clearwater-Hubbard-West Becker-East Becker-West Otter Tail-
East Otter Tail-Wadena-Grant-
509 AM CDT Wed Jun 7 2017

This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North
Dakota, west central and northwest Minnesota.

.DAY ONE...Today and Tonight

Isolated severe thunderstorms are possible from 1 pm to 5 pm
today. Quarter sized hail and wind gusts to 60 mph are the main
threats.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday

Isolated severe thunderstorms are also possible Friday night.
Quarter sized hail and wind gusts to 60 mph will be the main
threats. Thunderstorms remain in the forecast throughout the
Saturday to Tuesday period.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not anticipated.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 7, 12:29 PM CDT, 44 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 7, 12:45 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 7, 12:54 PM CDT, 19 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 7, 1:02 PM CDT, 11 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 7, 1:06 PM CDT, 7 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 7, 1:07 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

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The surface observations

Grand_forks_afb (RDR), 49 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 2 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:15 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2017 tornado in North Dakota Every tornado in North Dakota since 1950 Warnings in force in North Dakota now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 7, 2017

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 7	12:49 PM CDT	EF0	Grand Forks, ND	0.4	25
June 7	12:59 PM CDT	EF0	Steele, ND	3.0	75
June 7	1:02 PM CDT	EF0	Grand Forks, ND	0.3	50
June 7	1:17 PM CDT	EF0	Grand Forks, ND	0.6	100
June 7	1:18 PM CDT	EF0	Grand Forks, ND	1.0	100
June 7	1:18 PM CDT	EF0	Traill, ND	4.0	100
June 7	1:23 PM CDT	EF0	Grand Forks, ND	1.9	75
June 7	6:28 PM MDT	EF0	Washington, CO	0.1	25

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.