ENDERLIN, N.D. — A
tornado
that killed three people this summer in southeast North Dakota has been reclassified EF5, the most damaging level for a twister.
The June 20 tornado that destroyed at least two homes, damaged other buildings and derailed a train near Enderlin reached speeds that exceeded 210 mph, the National Weather Service announced Monday, Oct. 6. The minimum speed for an EF5 tornado is 201 mph.
“It is a significant part of North Dakota history, being one of three tornadoes now officially being rated as F5 or EF5,” said Tyler Thomas, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Grand Forks.
EF5 is the highest rating for a tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Until 2007, meteorologists used the Fujita Scale to classify tornadoes.
Meteorologist Ted Fujita introduced the Fujita Scale in 1971 after studying damage caused by the
1957 tornado
that hit Fargo. That 700-foot wide tornado killed 12 people and injured at least 100 others as it traveled 9 miles, according to the Weather Service.
“The Fargo F5 back in 1957 was actually the first F5 ever rated by Ted Fujita,” Thomas said.
The other North Dakota tornado to receive an F5 ranking was a 1953 twister that hit Fort Rice, about 20 miles south of Bismarck. That tornado hit between 260 and 318 mph and was 1,800 feet wide, the weather service said.
The small town was mostly destroyed, with the tornado killing two people and injuring 20, the Weather Service said.
The last EF5 tornado in the U.S. was recorded in 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.
The June tornado near Enderlin was initially classified as EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale and was one of multiple tornadoes that storms produced in the region that day.
Anna Paige / Forum file photo
The Enderlin tornado started south of the city and traveled northeast 12 miles, the Weather Service said. It stretched to slightly over a mile wide, destroying crops and buildings in its path, according to the National Weather Service.
The tornado killed Michael and Katherine Dehn, both 73, at their home about a mile east of Enderlin on Highway 46, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said. It also took the life of 89-year-old
Macario Lucio,
authorities said.
No injuries were reported.
The weather service conducted additional survey work to determine whether to reclassify the tornado. The derailed train played a key role in updating the tornado’s rating, Thomas said. Inspections revealed the tornado tipped over several fully-loaded grain cars and lofted tanker cars, including an empty one blown about 475 feet away from the tracks, the weather service said.
“We consulted with experts around the field,” Thomas said.
The train isn’t a “standard damage indicator” used to determine tornado classifications, but it showed the Enderlin tornado was “potentially capable of stronger than that EF3 rating,” Thomas said.
“Thus, we did the research and worked with those experts to determine what that rating would be,” he said.
Surveyors also noticed the tornado left stumps where trees once stood, the Weather Service said. Some trees were torn out of the ground completely, revealing “root ball displacements,” the weather service said.
In one instance, surveyors couldn’t determine the original location of the displaced tree, the weather service said.
Anna Paige / Forum file photo
Other trees showed signs of debarking in a “sandpapering” effect, which correlates with stronger, rarer tornadoes, Thomas said.
After looking at the damage caused by the Enderlin tornado, experts determined evidence supported a higher ranking, he said. The Enderlin tornado is the first EF5 tornado recorded in North Dakota since the National Weather Service started using the Enhance Fujita Scale in 2007, Thomas confirmed.
The U.S. has documented 60 F5 or EF5 tornadoes since 1950, Thomas said. Enderlin’s is the 10th EF5 reported since the scale change.
Enderlin is about 55 miles southwest of Fargo.
