Some big news came out in the meteorological community on Monday regarding a powerful tornado that occurred in eastern North Dakota on June 20, 2025. The National Weather Service in Grand Forks upgraded the rating of a tornado near Enderlin to an EF-5 with winds greater than 210 mph.

The tornado lasted 19 minutes, traveled 12 miles, and was a mile wide at times. This tornado was the first EF-5 in the United States since the Moore, Oklahoma, EF-5 tornado on May 20, 2013.

For a tornado to be rated EF-5, that is exceptionally rare. Since 2007, they have only counted for 0.04% of all tornadoes rated in the relatively new "EF" or Enhanced Fujita, scale.

(Photo: KDKA Weather Center)

The original Fujita scale

The original scale for rating tornadoes in this country came from Dr. T. Theodore F

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