Thunderstorm Wind — Mercer, North Dakota

2023-08-24 · near Beulah, Mercer, North Dakota

Event narrative

Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated by a trained spotter.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.9800, -101.7900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1131457. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.