House damaged by tornado northeast of Enderlin, N.D. overnight June 20-21, 2025 (Joe Leier/KFGO)
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – Gov. Kelly Armstrong is declaring a statewide disaster to help with cleanup efforts after severe weather, including a tornado outbreak that killed three people, ripped through the state Friday night into Saturday morning.
“All state agencies and administrators shall activate and utilize their response and recovery resources and capabilities pursuant to the State Emergency Operations Plan.” the declaration says. “State agencies shall also coordinate with the appropriate federal agencies to make recovery programs available in order to assist local and tribal officials, alleviate hardships, facilitate restoration of services and infrastructure, and implement future mitigation measures where applicable.”
National Weather Service Meteorologist Timothy Lynch says several tornadoes touched down in Stutsman, Barnes, Ransom, and Cass Counties. The number and severity of the tornadoes will be determined by weather service investigators.
Those tornadoes destroyed multiple buildings, snapped off power poles, and shredded shelter belts, leaving cellular service spotty due to towers being without power.
High winds also ripped roofs off homes, tipped semis, and uprooted trees across the eastern half of the state.
The strong storms were behind the supercells that produced tornadoes in west-central North Dakota. National Weather Service Meteorologist James Telken in Bismarck says the line produced straight-line winds over 100-miles-per-hour, as well as a few isolated tornadoes.
Hail up to 3 inches in diameter was reported in Jamestown.
In Fargo, damage was limited to a few broken tree branches. Several underpasses flooded as a result of the heavy rainfall.
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