EF1 Tornado — Hettinger, North Dakota

2019-07-12 · near Mott, Hettinger, North Dakota

Event narrative

The tornado touched down roughly two miles north-northwest of Mott, and tracked to the south-southeast before lifting about one mile east-southeast of town, having passed through the northeast corner of the city. Extensive tree damage occurred in Mott, mostly from high winds associated with the Rear-Flank Downdraft of the tornado. Farm bins were torn from their foundations, a shed was destroyed, and a very large building on the fairgrounds was collapsed. Near the intersection of ND Highway 8 and 21 the roof was torn from a storage facility. A house just east of there, along ND Highway 21, had the attached garage shifted off its foundation and collapsed. Based on the damage done this tornado was rated EF1 with estimated wind speeds around 105 mph.

Wider weather episode

A surface trough over eastern Montana nudging into western North Dakota served as the focus for thunderstorm development in a highly sheared environment. Initial severe thunderstorms moved into northwest North Dakota from Montana, with additional development following over southwest North Dakota. A tornado developed over Hettinger County and struck the northeast part of the city of Mott, causing damage that corresponded to EF1. Most of the severe weather remained over western North Dakota, though a late night severe storm developed over northern Burleigh County, causing extensive wind damage to a farmstead near the city of Regan. During this episode, the largest hail reported was golf ball size and fell in Stark County. The strongest wind gusts were 90 mph, and occurred in Hettinger and Burleigh counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.4003, -102.3448)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 838600. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.