Tornado in McHenry County, North Dakota

This tornado, a landspout, touched down in an open field south-southeast of Voltaire and impacted no structures. There was no damage to evaluate and so by National Weather Service policy the tornado is rated EF Unknown. This was the first of two landspout tornadoes in the Voltaire area of McHenry County this day, 12 minutes apart, from two different thunderstorms.

A cold front dropped slowly through North Dakota as an upper level low moved across southern Saskatchewan, with severe thunderstorms developing along and ahead of the front. Along one boundary ahead of the front, in the Voltaire area of McHenry County, two short-lived landspout tornadoes formed. No damage was reported with the tornadoes and so by National Weather Service policy the tornadoes were rated EF Unknown. The tornadoes touched down 12 minutes apart from two different thunderstorms. Otherwise, damaging thunderstorm winds were the main threat with most of the storms, though one storm produced one-inch diameter hail near Bottineau in Bottineau County. The strongest wind gust was estimated to be 75 mph, and occurred near Twin Buttes in Dunn County, where a truck window was broken out and a snowmobile trailer was blown down a coulee.