BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — More than 20 tornadoes occurred across North Dakota during the severe weather outbreak and derecho event on June 20, earlier this year. One of these tornadoes has made history as the most powerful twister to strike the United States since 2013.
Today, the National Weather Service retrospectively upgraded the Enderlin tornado’s strength rating to “EF5” — the highest designation on the Enhanced Fujita Scale — after conducting a careful investigation of its damage path. The storm impacted parts of Ransom and Cass Counties in eastern North Dakota shortly after 11 PM on June 20, killing three. The Enderlin twister is the first EF5 since May 2013, when a similarly powerful tornado struck the community of Moore, Oklahoma.
The damage survey found that the Enderlin tornado caused a train derailment, tipping several fully-loaded grain hopper cars and lofting an empty tanker car nearly 500 feet. Additionally, a local farmstead was completely destroyed with its foundation swept clean and debris scattered downstream, per the NWS. Trees in the area were also debarked. Based on these damage indicators, experts estimated that the storm contained maximum winds of greater than 210 miles per hour.
Prior to the Enderlin storm, North Dakota’s most recent F5/EF5 tornado occurred in Fargo on June 20, 1957, exactly 68 years earlier.
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