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Active Weather for the West, Warming in the East

The potential for heavy snow at higher elevations in the western U.S. will continue for many spots through the weekend. In the meantime, the eastern half of the continental U.S. will transition to above normal temperatures ahead of a pair of cold fronts next week that will bring readings back to closer to normal as we approach Thanksgiving Day. Read More >

Overview

Heat and moisture began to increase quickly during the early afternoon hours of August 6, 2019 across western and central North Dakota. At around 2:00 pm CDT, a storm began to form just to the northwest of Halliday and rapidly intensified, taking on the characteristics of a rotating supercell thunderstorm. This storm produced periodic large hail as it slowly tracked southeast before dissipating south of Beulah. To the north, a new storm quickly formed over Hazen, and would go on to become a destructive long-lived supercell, making its way southeast all the way to near Linton before diminishing. This supercell was one of two severe storms that impacted the Bismarck/Mandan area during the afternoon. Golf ball size hail and significant tree damage was reported in Mandan, while ping pong ball size hail was reported in south Bismarck. Here at the National Weather Service office at the Bismarck Airport, we measured a 71 mph wind gust and quarter size hail as the strongest part of the storm moved over. Significant tree damage was also reported in Sterling, Medina, and Cleveland as another storm tracked through these areas. By late evening, storms had either moved south into South Dakota or east into the Red River Valley.

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Looking North at an Approaching Supercell from the Mandan Airport.
(Photo Courtesy of Cordell Booke)
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