Deadly derecho leaves trail of damage as tornadoes, 100+ mph winds sweep across Northern Plains
Three people were killed when a tornado swept through the rural town of Enderlin, North Dakota, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Office. Meanwhile, widespread damage was reported in Bemidji, Minnesota amid 106 mph wind gusts.
3 killed after severe weather strike North Dakota
Extensive damage has been reported in North Dakota after a derecho swept through the Upper Plains on Friday night. Three deaths in Grant County, North Dakota, have been reported as a result of the storms.
ENDERLIN, N.D. -- A powerful derecho brought tornadoes and 100+ mph wind gusts across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday night into Saturday morning, leaving at least three dead and a trail of damage and power outages.
Three people were killed when a tornado swept through the rural town of Enderlin, North Dakota, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies received word that a home suffered significant damage from a tornado strike around 11:40 p.m. Friday. As emergency responders arrived at the scene, storm chasers notified them that they had found two people dead inside the home. Enderlin firefighters found the tornado had left a third person dead at another location.
Large tornado sweeps through North Dakota
Storm trackers captured this large tornado as it spun near Spiritwood, North Dakota Friday evening.
Another tornado was observed near Eckelson and Urbana. The supercell stayed north of Interstate 94, but some damage was reported by storm chasers.
In addition, the squall line brought wind gusts well over hurricane-force strength. The NWS says a private weather station near Luverne, North Dakota clocked a gust of 111 mph around 12:45 a.m. Saturday and gusts reached 80-90 mph for more than an hour in Jamestown.
‘Thousands of trees' felled in Minnesota as 106 mph gust slams Bemidji
Farther east as the storm crossed into Minnesota, the airport in Bemidji recorded a gust of 106 mph. An emergency manager there reported extensive damage from falling and uprooted trees on roofs and cars with people trapped.
Damage in Grand County, N.D. on June 20,2025.
(Grand County Sheriff's Office)
"There is extensive damage around the Bemidji area and much of southern Beltrami County," emergency managers wrote on Facebook. "Please do not travel unless it is an emergency. Many roads are blocked and there are a ton of power lines down. Unfortunately there is significant structure damage as well. We are responding to many gas leaks."
Torrential rain resulted in flash flooding downtown Bemidji with vehicles becoming stalled, said Beltrami County emergency management spokesperson Christopher Muller. "Additional damage was reported in southeastern Beltrami County with thousands of trees blocking roadways."
However, no injuries have been reported, Muller said.
Over 80% of the county was without power at 8:30 a.m. CT, according to FindEnergy.com.
"Residents should plan for long-term power outages as significant infrastructure damage has occurred," Muller said.
Overall, data from FindEnergy.com indicated that over 57,000 customers were without electricity in Minnesota at the peak of the outages, with another 30,000 people lost power in North Dakota.