Hot, humid stretch to end with comfortable weekend for Grand Forks area
Jun. 11—Grand Forks residents can look forward to a pleasant weekend after dangerous thunderstorms moved out of the region early Friday morning, June 11.
After a night of hail storms and tornadoes reported near Watford City, a strong line of storms culminated in about 1.2 inches of rain in the Grand Forks area, according to preliminary reports.
Damage from the storms was reported throughout the region, stemming from winds gusting up to 80 mph, according to WDAY StormTracker meteorologist Jared Piepenburg.
A tractor trailer was blown off the road near Reynolds, N.D., early Friday morning, leading to minor injuries suffered by the driver. There are also reports of large branches down near Buxton, N.D., and a branch that blew through the roof of a house near LaMoure, N.D.
The storms have moved east out of the area, but gusty winds will continue throughout Friday, Piepenburg said.
"There'll be some rain showers, but storm-wise, the worst of it is for sure done right now," he said. "That front is moving across Minnesota and could pop up a few showers and storms east of our area, but otherwise what's going to happen here is we're going to be having a pretty beautiful weekend behind this."
After a long stretch of hot and humid days, Piepenburg said afternoon winds on Friday will blow the humidity away, and the weekend is expected to be cooler and comfortable, with cooler temperatures forecast in the 40s and 50s and afternoons expected to be in the 80s and breezy.
It'll be nice camping weather, Piepenburg said, but he cautioned that those sleeping in tents this weekend should be ready for cooler morning temperatures.
The cooler weather will end an unusually lengthy stretch of warm, muggy conditions. It's not unusual to have those uncomfortable hot days in the Grand Forks area in June, Piepenburg said, but having so many of them consecutively is noteworthy.
"I think the thing is just having some humidity here and there, and some hot days. It was a big stretch, and that was the main thing that stood out," he said.
