GRAND FORKS — Following the four tornadoes confirmed to have touched down in the Grand Forks area on Friday, Aug. 8, data from the National Weather Service shows there have now been 86 tornadoes sighted in Grand Forks County since 1950.

With tornadoes, data on occurrences relies upon eyewitnesses or reports of sightings. In the past, some tornadoes have gone unnoticed until showing up on a damage report. The density of population in some areas and the lack thereof in others can also explain why some tornadoes remain on the weaker end of the scale.

The Fujita scale for tornadoes is based on resulting damage. When there are few places for a tornado to cause damage — mostly rural areas, for example — it is rare for a tornado in the area to climb up that scale.

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