Enderlin, ND tornado upgraded to EF-5, breaks 12 year long drought

Just after 11 PM on June 20, 2025, a violent tornado touched down near Enderlin, ND. It was initially given an EF-3 rating. However, extensive reviews of the damage have led the National Weather Service to retroactively upgrade the tornado to EF-5 status. This marks the first time a tornado has reached EF-5 status since the Moore, OK tornado on May 20, 2023. The drought of EF-5 tornadoes spanned just over 12 years and was the longest on record.

Meteorologists at the Grand Forks, ND office of the National Weather Service went back and reanalyzed some of the damage data from the tornado. Several trees were completely uprooted (like shown below), others were debarked, and several fully-loaded grain gars (on a train) were tipped over. The tornado also picked up an empty tanker car and threw it 475.5 feet. Tragically, 3 people lost their lives. Based on all the damage, meteorologists determined the tornado exhibited winds of at least 210 mph, thereby earning the tornado an EF-5 rating.