A thunderstorm that turned into a tornado warning for parts of Stark and Morton counties early Tuesday morning may have only brought a little rain to the area, but shook things up with high winds, a National Weather Service official said.
Joshua Scheck, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Bismarck, said peak winds are estimated to have reached 70 mph early this morning in Stark County, as recorded by a local trained weather observer.
"We measured 63 miles per hour in Taylor," Scheck said. "All of your hail was in the southwest down in Bowman, all of the severe hail I should say. The largest reported (hail) was softball sized, which is 4.25 inches and that was by a sheriff's deputy in Bowman County and that was in Bowman."
Scheck said the service received numerous other reports of golf ball to tennis ball-sized hail in Bowman and its surrounding areas.
"We were all aware that there was a very small risk of severe weather yesterday and the National Weather Service down in Norman (Okla.), the storm prediction center, they were highlighting us for a small chance of severe weather," Scheck said. "We were watching it and we were ready, but our ability to anticipate such a small chance, that was one of those cases where we had to react quickly."
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Around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, the NWS issued a tornado warning for eastern Stark and western Morton Counties.
"There was a warning issued and there were three distinct circulations spotted by Doppler radar," Scheck said. "They were not the classic type of storm structures that we associate with tornadoes. They were tornadoes along the leading edge of a squall line, they are kind of shallow and short-lived but they can still be intense and cause damage."
Overall, Scheck said the area received just over an inch of rain.
High winds in Dickinson caused a calf shelter from Runnings Farm & Fleet to blow out of the parking lot and into a nearby street, causing officers to direct traffic until it was moved.
Doug Tyrrell, manager of Runnings in Dickinson, said the shelter, which weighs over 2,000 pounds, didn't receive any damage.
"Around 9'oclock they picked it up with a boom truck crane," Tyrrell said. "I'm surprised the little stop sign stopped it from blowing any farther."
In other storm-related matters, A power box blew off a traffic light pole on the corner of Sims and First Avenue East. This caused the lights on the East and West to quit working until it could be fixed.
A report of power lines sparking and smoking, brought the Dickinson Fire Department to the Rocky Butte Park area. Fire chief Bob Sivak said a crew responded and stood watch until a crew from Montana-Dakota Utilities could arrive on the scene. Sivak said he is unsure what caused the power line damage.
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Dickinson police also responded to burglar alarms that went off at least four businesses in the city due to the high winds of the storm.
The Stark County Sheriff's Department did not have any calls for damages or weather related troubles.
Dick Frederick, a deputy sheriff with the Bowman County Sheriff's Department said there were a few damages in the area.
"There have been quite a few siding, they've been some windows popped out, windshields," said. "I imagine some roof damage. I would also imagine there's been quite a bit of crop damage. I've heard reports that the FSA (Farm Service Agency) and crop insurers have been quite busy today."
Frederick said he isn't aware of any injuries.
