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Severe Thunderstorms Across the Central and Northern Plains; Heavy Rain for the Four Corners Region

Severe thunderstorms capable of very large hail and damaging wind gusts around 80 mph are forecast across portions of the central and northern Plains today into the nighttime hours; Furthermore, locally heavy rainfall may result in isolated instances of flash flooding. Monsoon-like conditions persist for the Four Corners Region where additional flooding is possible through tonight. Read More >

Overview

On Thursday, June 10, 2021, much of western and central North Dakota was under a Moderate Risk for severe weather. Initial storms moved into west central North Dakota in the late afternoon and produced multiple tornadoes southwest of Alexander. There were numerous reports of large hail up to the size of golf balls as storms expanded into northwest North Dakota in the evening. An especially strong thunderstorm moved through Williston around 9:30 PM, with hail of 2 inches in diameter. Heavy rainfall from a few rounds of storms produced flash flooding in Williston, with multiple cars submerged on Highway 2. Many locations in northwest North Dakota received heavy rainfall, with widespread amounts of 3 to 5 inches of rain in parts of Williams, Divide, and Burke Counties.

As storms moved east from Montana and northeast from South Dakota, they eventually became more linear as they moved into central North Dakota, where damaging winds were the main hazard. Widespread severe gusts were reported across the south central, with a peak gust of 79 mph at Long Lake. There were many reports from across the area of damage to trees and structures, especially from the Hebron and Glen Ullin areas. 

Image
Tornado near Sather Dam, ND, around 8:30 PM on June 10, 2021. Photo courtesy of Andrew Colantoni.
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