EF0 tornado, Hunter to Gardner, North Dakota, June 20, 2025

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 20, 2025

Touchdown

10:38 PM CDT (03:38 UTC)

Lifted

10:44 PM CDT (03:44 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

5.8 miles (9.4 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Cass County

Touchdown point

47.190, -97.260

Lift-off point

47.211, -97.140

Record number

2506202138-01

17 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 104 mph.

• Radar confirmed TDS and satellite imagery shows scouring in fields.
• Radar confirmed TDS and satellite imagery shows scouring in field.
• Shelterbelt tree damage and satellite imagery shows scouring in field.
• Satellite imagery shows scouring in field.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

During the evening of Friday, June 20th into the early morning hours of June 21st, much of the region was affected by severe weather. Supercell thunderstorms developed across southeast North Dakota ahead of an approaching convective complex, producing multiple strong, destructive, and fatal tornadoes. This was followed by a powerful line of severe thunderstorms categorized as a derecho, which tracked across much of the region resulting in widespread straight line wind damage. After the derecho passed through the region, there was a period of prolonged destructive winds that affected portions of central and east central North Dakota, as well as adjacent portions of Minnesota. This was a unique event due to the combination of the violent tornadoes ahead of the derecho, and the long duration of significant winds that followed the derecho. Based on estimates provided by North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, the state lost anywhere from 50 to 80 million bushels of grain storage capacity from these storms.

Tornado confirmed by radar TDS signature. Satellite imagery shows scouring in field.

Tornado was confirmed by radar TDS signature. Shelterbelt tree damage, and satellite imagery shows scouring in fields intermittent for roughly 6 miles.

Satellite imagery and ground survey concluded that the tornado tracked intermittently for for approximately 12 miles. There was damage to bean fields and shelterbelts along with 1 farmstead which lost several grains bins, a hoop shed, machine shop and sustained roof damage to 2 story house. Satellite imagery suggests the tornado was a half mile at its widest.

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

42 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:56 UTC, 42 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:54 UTC and running to 08:00 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 Moderate 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 01:16 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.

Fargo (FAR), 42 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), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:35 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 2025 tornado in North DakotaEvery tornado in North Dakota since 1950Warnings in force in North Dakota nowThe forecast where you are

23 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.