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Rugby, ND
Mon Nov 01, 2004
Listen in RealAudio 
If you are looking for the Brainstorm answer, that’s coming along tomorrow. But this is
such a unique day, weather-wise, and we just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk
about it. Hi, I’m Bryan Yeaton, and this is The Weather Notebook.
The town of Rugby, N.D., is notable for a couple of reasons. First, it is purported to be
the geographical center of North America—at least that’s where the monument is. But
more interesting for us weather geeks: four years ago today, Rugby was under a winter
storm watch, and a tornado watch—at the same time!
A winter storm system over Colorado strengthened as it moved northeast into the
plains. After 15 hours of snow, some locations in Wyoming and western South Dakota
received four-and-a-half feet. Early on Tuesday, October 31, the National Weather
Service issued a Winter Storm Warning for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Six to 14 inches of snow also dumped across western and north central North Dakota.
Winds consistently gusted to more than 50 miles per hour, with a maximum of 70
reported at Ellsworth Air Force Base in western South Dakota. Part of Interstate 90 was
shut down. In Bowman County, S.D., seven serious injuries resulted from a
storm-caused tour bus crash. Five hundred power lines were downed.
In the meantime, the system touched off severe thunderstorms and tornadoes—the
first November tornadoes for North Dakota in half a century. At 2:14 p.m., the Storm
Prediction Center issued a tornado watch for parts of North Dakota and Minnesota,
lasting from 2:30 until 8 p.m. on November 1. Rugby itself did not suffer a tornado, but
eight North Dakota communities did, including Underwood and Washburn, only 85
miles away from Rugby.
The Weather Notebook is produced by the Mount Washington Observatory with funding
from Subaru of America.
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