EF0 Tornado — Ransom, North Dakota

2025-06-20 · near Anselm, Ransom, North Dakota

0.7 mi

Path length

519 yds

Path width

Event narrative

This tornado developed in Cass County before crossing Highway 46 into Ransom County, then weakened and dissipated. This tornado was on the ground for around 7 miles, at its widest was about 1351 in Cass county. In Ransom County its widest was 519 yards as it crossed into the county. Damage indicators along the path of this tornado correlates to EF-2 damage in Cass, with peak winds estimated to be around 120 mph in that county. Along the path of this tornado was extensive tree damage, including trees snapped and uprooted. Ground scouring and crop damage was visible from high resolution satellite data correlating with at least EF-0 damage at 85 mph. This ground scouring extended into Ransom county about 0.65 miles.

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 → (46.6296, -97.4345)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1278912. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.