A deadly tornado that ripped through a rural city in North Dakota in June has been upgraded to an EF5, the National Weather Service said Monday, marking the first U.S. twister with an EF5 rating in 12 years.
The federal agency's Grand Forks, North Dakota, facility estimates the twister that touched down in the southeast city of Enderlin on June 20 had a maximum wind speed of over 210 mph. Wind speeds in a tornado need to reach at least 200 mph for it to be classified as an EF5, the highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale .
The initial estimate in the days after it happened was an EF3.
Authorities said two men and a woman died during the tornado, which tipped several train cars fully loaded with grain and lifted tanker cars. The NWS said one tanker car was thrown just over 475