RED RIVER VALLEY — Ripped off roofs, a destroyed shed, and torn up siding could be seen all throughout the area of Leal, North Dakota after Friday's storm. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down there.
It touched down on a four-mile path, with wind speeds up to 108 miles-per-hour. It's estimated to have been about 150 yards wide. They said it started just before 5:30 p.m. in the western end of town.
Four other tornadoes were also confirmed from Friday's storms.
Rogers, North Dakota saw an EF0 tornado that briefly touched down just after 6:00 p.m. The NWS described it as a "very thin and ropey funnel" in their Sunday report. Other than branches getting tossed around, no other damage was reported to NWS.
Another EF0 tornado was spotted in Hope, North Dakota at around the same time. It brought a lot of wind, heavy rain and hail. It ripped out large branches but it's not known if this touched ground at any point.
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The one near Flom, Minnesota, is described the first of "twin tornadoes" seen here and in Waubun just before 7:30 p.m. The EF0 ripped out branches but doesn't appear to have caused any more damage. This one reached winds of about 80 miles-per-hour and is estimated to be 200 yards wide. It's not known if this touched ground either.
Its twin, classified as a slightly more severe EF1, did touch down in the Waubun area. The report shows several large trees were torn out from a farmstead there. They estimate its width to be about 200 yards, with wind gusts up to 95 miles-per-hour. It went on a roughly 3.5-mile path.
The "Enhanced Fujita" scale, known simply as the EF scale, goes from EF0 to EF5. It's based on the wind speed and damage caused. Any storm ranked as an EF5 is considered to be among the strongest and most devastating.
