Power Outage in Ray, ND

Thunderstorm Wind. Sheet metal walls from out-buildings were blown into vehicles, campers, and motorhomes causing damage in the Wildrose area. Some trees were uprooted, with a few large diameter trees snapped and blocking streets. Power was out to the entire town.

July 18, 2022

Blizzard. Strong winds and heavy snow combined to produce a blizzard. In addition, periods of freezing rain occurred which accreted on power lines. This, combined with strong winds, led to extensive damage to power lines, cross arms, and poles, and thus widespread power outages.

April 23, 2022

High Wind. Williston ASOS reported wind gusts to 93 mph. Power outages occurred in the Grenora and Epping areas. A trailer home flipped over at the state line west of Williston.

January 13, 2021

Discrete severe thunderstorms initially developed in the wake of a warm front in an area of strong instability over northwestern North Dakota during the late morning hours. The storms then started spreading southeast as a cold front pushed into the area. The initial storms were primarily a hail threat, with hail the size of golf balls reported in Williams and McKenzie counties. As the storms shifted southeast and became a line, the primary threat became strong wind gusts. By the time the storms reached the Jamestown area wind gusts were around 85 mph. This resulted in widespread tree and power line damage along with campers and semi-trucks overturning along Interstate 94 resulting in a brief closure of the interstate.

September 02, 2019

Severe thunderstorms moved from southeast Saskatchewan into northeast Montana, and then into northwest North Dakota where the environment was rich in low level moisture with enhanced deep and low level shear. Initially, supercell thunderstorms produced very large hail up to the size of tennis balls over Williams County before transitioning to a hail and wind threat with reported wind gusts around 62 mph as the storms approached McKenzie County. A mix of severe wind and hail occurred in McKenzie County before a tornado developed along a line of strong wind just to the west of a large recreational vehicle, camper, and mobile home park on the southwest side of Watford City. About 135 people were displaced from their homes. One fatality occurred and 28 people were injured, about 13 of them seriously. Based on the damage the tornado was rated EF2 and from that winds were estimated to have been around 127 mph. The tornado passed through the park causing extensive and severe damage to over 100 recreational vehicles, campers, and single wide manufactured homes. Power poles were snapped and other non-occupied buildings were damaged and some destroyed, including a well-built pole barn. Many vehicles were damaged, some totaled.

July 09, 2018