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Heavy Rain From the Central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic; Heat Wave Begins This Weekend

Strong to severe thunderstorms and heavy rain will impact portions of the central Plains into the Upper Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic through the weekend. A stretch of unusually hot and humid weather is expected across portions of the central U.S. and the Southeast beginning this weekend and continuing through next week. The heat may reach dangerous levels, particularly mid to late next week. 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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