The EF-4 tornado from June 20, 2025, near Enderlin, North Dakota, has been upgraded to an EF-5 tornado. This is the first EF-5 tornado since the May 20, 2013 EF-5 in Moore, Oklahoma, 12 years and 1 month prior.
The tornado is estimated to have had winds of over 210 MPH, breaking the 200 MPH threshold for the EF-5 category. It was 1.05 miles wide, left a path of 12.10 miles long, and resulted in 3 injuries.
While the tornado didn’t directly hit any grounded structures, it did flip a freight train over and toss cars nearly 500 feet away. Forensic damage wind speed estimates indicate that winds of over 200 MPH are needed to flip fully loaded grain hoppers and to toss empty cars several hundred feet away. The images below were included in the Public Information Statement from the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, ND.
Trees that were in the path of the tornado also showed familiar signs of EF-5 damage. The bark was stripped, leaving behind a sandpaper texture on the trees. Large trees that had been uprooted were also found far from their original place.
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