EF3 Tornado — Nelson, North Dakota

2007-08-26 · near Aneta, Nelson, North Dakota

Event narrative

This tornado continued into western Grand Forks County, where it dissipated 3 miles west-northwest of Logan Center at 716 pm CST. The total tornado track was about 6 miles long, with about 5 miles of this total occurring in Nelson County. The tornado destroyed a garage and farm outbuildings at 3 farmsteads. It killed 5 buffalo and completely dismantled a swathing combine. Trees were also snapped off or uprooted along the damage path and several empty metal grain bins were torn from their anchors and demolished. Gravel roads were deeply scarred by debris. Peak winds were estimated at 150 mph.

Wider weather episode

A cold front moved across North Dakota on the 26th, with a hot and humid airmass in place ahead of the front. At 6 pm CST, a surface low was located over southern Manitoba (Canada), just north of Pembina, ND. The cold front stretched to the southwest, back toward Devils Lake (ND) and Bismarck (ND). Ahead of the cold front, temperatures ranged in the low to mid 80s with dew points around 70F. Behind the front, temperatures did not cool significantly, but dew points dropped to the mid 40s. Thunderstorms began to form along and ahead of the cold front by early evening (from northeast ND into south central ND), eventually crossing into northwest Minnesota several hours later. Eight distinct tornadoes occurred over northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota during this event.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.7601, -97.9307)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 48704. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.