Tornado in Williams County, North Dakota

Tornado September 12, 2025 · Williams County, North Dakota

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Not rated

0.2 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

Not rated. NOAA lists no rating for this tornado. Ratings come from surveying damage, and the National Weather Service now records “EFU” (unknown) when a tornado hit nothing a survey team could rate.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado touched down in an open field southeast of Wheelock and impacted no structures. There was no damage to evaluate. By National Weather Service policy the tornado is rated EF-U (Unknown).

The wider storm

A surface low pressure system was located over central South Dakota while multiple short-wave troughs moved through southwesterly flow aloft. This led to multiple areas of thunderstorms developing, with some becoming severe. Initially, a storm became severe near Fessenden in Wells County in the morning, producing one inch diameter hail. Then in the early afternoon, another thunderstorm produced a brief tornado near Wheelock in Williams County. The tornado touched down in an open field and impacted no structures, therefore there was no damage to evaluate. By National Weather Service policy the tornado is rated EF-U (Unknown). Later in the afternoon into the evening, additional thunderstorms became severe over southwest North Dakota. The largest hail reported was the size of a ping pong ball, which fell at Solen in Sioux County.

Began near Wheelock (48.2700, -103.2000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1294365. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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