Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota

Tornadoes in Foster County, North Dakota

17 tornadoes have crossed Foster County since 1950, 43rd of the 53 counties in North Dakota with a tornado on record, an average of one every 4.5 years. They have killed 0 people and injured 0. None was rated F4 or above.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The United States rated tornadoes on Ted Fujita’s F scale until 31 January 2007 and on the Enhanced Fujita scale after it. Both run from 0 to 5, and both rate the damage rather than measure the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F0 / EF040 to 72 mph on the F scale, 65 to 85 mph on the EF scale

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F1 / EF173 to 112 mph on the F scale, 86 to 110 mph on the EF scale

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2 / EF2113 to 157 mph on the F scale, 111 to 135 mph on the EF scale

    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. F3 / EF3158 to 206 mph on the F scale, 136 to 165 mph on the EF scale

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4 / EF4207 to 260 mph on the F scale, 166 to 200 mph on the EF scale

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5 / EF5261 to 318 mph on the F scale, over 200 mph on the EF scale

    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.

Now

Tornadoes
17
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
F4 and above
0
Worst on record
F2, July 29, 1972

The strongest

  1. F2, Foster County, North DakotaJuly 29, 1972F2, 2.3 mi (4 km)

Every year with a tornado

The 11 years of the 76 in the record with a tornado in Foster County. Each year links to every tornado in North Dakota that year.

YearTornadoesDeathsInjuriesStrongest
20253EF1
20181EF0
20112EF0
20031F0
19942F1
19932F0
19871F1
19821F0
19772F1
19721F2
19631F0

Every tornado that crossed Foster County

17 tornadoes, newest first.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 28, 20251:43 PM CDTUnratedFoster0.550
June 28, 20251:42 PM CDTUnratedFoster0.750
June 20, 202510:44 PM CDTEF1Foster5.8150$300,000
May 30, 201812:15 PM CDTEF0Foster0.950
July 17, 20112:28 PM CDTEF0Foster0.020
July 17, 20111:42 PM CDTEF0Foster1.530
June 27, 20039:23 PM CDTF0Foster0.030
August 18, 19946:25 PM CDTF1Foster2.040
August 18, 19946:16 PM CDTF1Foster2.040$500 to $5,000
June 21, 19937:16 PM CDTF0Foster0.110
June 21, 19937:10 PM CDTF0Foster0.110
July 21, 19873:15 PM CDTF1Foster0.210$50,000 to $500,000
May 15, 19826:56 PM CDTF0Foster0.110under $50
July 23, 19777:10 PM CDTF0Foster0.110
June 26, 19777:45 PM CDTF1Foster0.110$5,000 to $50,000
July 29, 19725:45 PM CDTF2Foster2.320$5,000 to $50,000
July 5, 196311:00 PM GMT-5F0Foster0.110

Nearby

Warnings in force in Foster CountyThe forecast for Foster CountyThe live radar over Foster CountyEvery county in 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.