*NOTICE:* Information provided on this form may be used by the National Weather Service (NWS) for official purposes in any way, including public release and publication in NWS products. False statements on this form may be subject to prosecution under the False Statement Accountability Act of 1997 (18 U.S.C. § 1001) or other statutes.
If severe weather is occuring at the moment, please contact your local police department as soon as it is safe to do so and have them relay it to the National Weather Service in Grand Forks. |
If you have experienced severe weather recently, or have had damage as a result of a storm...please tell us about it. The National Weather Service's criteria for determining if a thunderstorm is severe is if one or more of the following are occuring. |
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hail 1 inch or larger
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58 mph (50 knots) or greater wind gusts
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trees, tree limbs and powerlines down
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damage to stuctures due to the storms
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a tornado
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Other events, although not severe, are also important to us and can be very helpful. |
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funnel or wall cloud
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flooding
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hail any size
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3 inches or more of snowfall
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icejams on rivers or streams
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When reporting hail, and to avoid any misunderstandings, please use the table below as a reference... |
SIZE |
INCHES |
pea |
1/4 |
marble |
1/2 |
dime |
3/4 |
nickel |
7/8 |
quarter |
1 |
half-dollar |
1 1/4 |
ping-pong ball |
1 1/2 |
golf ball |
1 3/4 |
tennis ball |
2 1/2 |
baseball |
2 3/4 |
grapefruit |
4 |
softball |
4 1/2 |
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...and for wind reporting, here is the Beaufort Scale to help estimate the wind speeds. |
Wind Speed
(mph) |
Designation |
Description |
1 |
calm |
smoke rises vertically, trees do not move |
1-3 |
light air |
smoke drift indicates wind direction |
4-7 |
light breeze |
weather vane moves, leaves rustle |
8-12 |
light breeze |
leaves and twigs in constant motion |
13-18 |
moderate breeze |
dust and loose paper raised, small branches move |
19-24 |
fresh breeze |
small trees sway |
25-31 |
strong breeze |
large branches move, wind whistles wires |
32-38 |
moderate gale |
whole trees move, walking affected |
39-46 |
fresh gale |
twigs break off trees, walking difficult |
47-54 |
strong gale |
slight structural damage occurs, branches break |
55-63 |
whole gale |
trees uprooted, considerable structural damage |
64-74 |
storm |
widespread damage |
75+ |
hurricane |
severe and extensive damage |
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Severe Weather Page |