EF2 Tornado — Cass, North Dakota

2025-06-20 · near Alice, Cass, North Dakota

Event narrative

A second tornado developed, in Cass County, from the same supercell thunderstorm about 4 miles northeast of Enderlin and tracked to the southeast, crossed Highway 46 into Ransom County, then weakened and dissipated. This tornado was on the ground for almost 7 miles, at its widest was about 1351 yards wide in Cass county. Damage indicators along the path of this tornado correlates to EF-2 damage, with peak winds estimated to be around 120 mph. Along the path of this tornado was extensive tree damage, including trees snapped and uprooted. Several roofs were partially blown apart as well as crop damage visible from high resolution satellite data.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.6703, -97.5251)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1278909. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.