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Storm Events Database
Event Details:
| Event | Tornado |
| -- Scale | EF0 |
| -- Length | 1.38 Miles |
| -- Width | 40 Yards |
| State | NORTH DAKOTA |
| County/Area | RAMSEY |
| WFO | FGF |
| Report Source | Trained Spotter |
| NCEI Data Source | CSV |
| Begin Date | 2016-08-03 19:40 CST-6 |
| Begin Location | 3ENE SWEETWATER |
| Begin Lat/Lon | 48.23/-98.8 |
| End Date | 2016-08-03 19:43 CST-6 |
| End Location | 5E SWEETWATER |
| End Lat/Lon | 48.23/-98.77 |
| Deaths Direct/Indirect | 0/0 (fatality details below, when available...) |
| Injuries Direct/Indirect | 0/0 |
| Property Damage | |
| Crop Damage | |
| Episode Narrative | By mid to late afternoon of August 3rd, a cold front had moved into central North Dakota. Ahead of the cold front, a warm front extended out to the east, or along the Canadian border. This put all of eastern North Dakota and the northwest quarter of Minnesota in the warm sector, where afternoon highs reached into the 80s to around 90, with dew point readings well into the 60s. A ribbon of extreme instability pooled from north to south just ahead of the cold front, with a lot of low level twisting evident in the wind field. Thunderstorms flared up in a northeast to southwest line around Rugby, North Dakota, then slowly tracked eastward during the evening. Some of the initial thunderstorms resulted in tornadoes in the Bisbee, North Dakota, area, as well as very large hail. In addition, these storms dropped large amounts of rain in the Bisbee area. As these initial storms moved east, they gradually weakened and became more disorganized. Meanwhile, storms along the southern edge of the line strengthened, gradually affecting the Devils Lake, North Dakota, area. Once again, several tornadoes were reported, with large hail as well. By late evening into the early morning hours of August 4th, the line over Devils Lake joined a line that blew up southwest of Jamestown, North Dakota, to form a continuous line of storms. This line of storms continued to move east, pushing through the central and southern Red River Valley, and into portions of west central Minnesota. By the time it reached west central Minnesota, the storms mainly produced damaging wind gusts. |
| Event Narrative | This was the first of two tornadoes viewed and photographed by multiple storm chasers in the Sweetwater Lake area, in southern Freshwater and Morris townships. This tornado tracked over open fields and marshland. Peak winds were estimated at 75 mph. |
Event Map:
Note: The tornado track is approximate based on the beginning (B) and ending (E) locations. The actual tornado path may differ from a straight line.
All events for this episode:
| Location | County/Zone | St. | Date | Time | T.Z. | Type | Mag | Dth | Inj | PrD | CrD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals: | 0 | 0 | 20.00K | 100.00K | |||||||
| KNOX | BENSON CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 16:05 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| ZION | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 16:25 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| AGATE | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 16:45 | CST-6 | Tornado | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| BISBEE LYSTER ARPT | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 16:55 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 65 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| ARNDT | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:23 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 85 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| EGELAND | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:30 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 78 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| BISBEE LYSTER ARPT | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:40 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.75 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| NEWVILLE | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:47 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| MUNICH | CAVALIER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:52 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 56 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| CONSIDINE | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:55 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. MG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| BISBEE LYSTER ARPT | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 17:57 | CST-6 | Heavy Rain | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| ROCKLAKE | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:05 | CST-6 | Heavy Rain | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| WEAVER | CAVALIER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:20 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 53 kts. MG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| CANDO | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:23 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.00 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| CANDO | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:26 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| BISBEE LYSTER ARPT | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:30 | CST-6 | Flash Flood | 0 | 0 | 15.00K | 100.00K | |
| LANGDON | CAVALIER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:31 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 56 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| LANGDON | CAVALIER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:33 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 50 kts. MG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| MADDOCK MUNI ARPT | BENSON CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:38 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.00 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| MAZA | TOWNER CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 18:40 | CST-6 | Hail | 2.00 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| PENN | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:00 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 56 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| GARSKE | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:12 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 70 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| HAMILTON | PEMBINA CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:20 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.50 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| DEVILS LAKE ARPT | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:25 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.00 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| NEW ROCKFORD | EDDY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:28 | CST-6 | Funnel Cloud | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| (DVL)DEVILS LAKE MUN | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:29 | CST-6 | Funnel Cloud | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| DEVILS LAKE ARPT | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:35 | CST-6 | Hail | 0.88 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| SHEYENNE | EDDY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:38 | CST-6 | Funnel Cloud | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| SWEETWATER | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:40 | CST-6 | Tornado | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| SWEETWATER | RAMSEY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:41 | CST-6 | Tornado | EF0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| DIVIDE SIDING | EDDY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 19:45 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.25 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| BRANTFORD | EDDY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 20:10 | CST-6 | Tornado | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| HAMAR | EDDY CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 20:15 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.00 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| MC VILLE ARPT | NELSON CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 21:02 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| SHEPARD | GRIGGS CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 21:25 | CST-6 | Hail | 1.25 in. | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| (GFK)GRAND FORKS INT | GRAND FORKS CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 21:28 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 51 kts. MG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| (RDR)GRAND FORKS AFB | GRAND FORKS CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 21:42 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 54 kts. MG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| GRAND FORKS | GRAND FORKS CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 21:49 | CST-6 | Heavy Rain | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K | |
| MC LEOD | RANSOM CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 22:10 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 60 kts. MG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| GRAND FORKS | GRAND FORKS CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 22:40 | CST-6 | Flash Flood | 0 | 0 | 5.00K | 0.00K | |
| ELLIOTT | RANSOM CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 22:43 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 65 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| GWINNER | SARGENT CO. | ND | 08/03/2016 | 23:01 | CST-6 | Thunderstorm Wind | 52 kts. EG | 0 | 0 | 0.00K | 0.00K |
| Totals: | 0 | 0 | 20.00K | 100.00K |
