Eastern North Dakota/NW Minnesota
A few cities include: Fargo, Grand Forks and Jamestown.
Local tornado season: Peaks between June and July.
Terrain: Open prairies with lakes scattered.
Road network: Very good in much of the area.
Radar coverage: Relatively good in most areas.
Choose the path less followed and the region between eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota is a hidden gem in tornado alley. Although the region is displaced from more frequent tornado activity to the south, there are usually at least a couple of tornado threat days each summer. It is not uncommon for the strongest storms in the area to produce large hail and occasionally damaging wind can be a threat.
Terrain
Both North Dakota and Minnesota rank in the top five flattest states in the country and this area on either side of the Red River is great real estate for storm chasing. The area is generally flat and only a few patchy forested areas are noted. Trees become more common with eastward extent across northern Minnesota. Far northern sections of eastern North Dakota have some forested areas as well. Lakes are scattered across the countryside with the largest being Devil’s Lake.
Road network
The road network is very good throughout most of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota as well. Several state and U.S. highways criss-cross the region in generally straight paths. Many other paved secondary roads are available, along with a fairly consistent grid network of dirt roads in between. Although bodies of water will sometimes lead to fragmenting of the gridded road network, there will almost always be a paved road within a short distance to keep up with a storm.
Interstate-29 follows a south-north path in far eastern North Dakota, extending to just about the Canadian border. Interstate-94 connects western Minnesota with Fargo and eventually Bismarck to the west.
Radar coverage
KMVX provides radar coverage for most of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. With that said, radar coverage is somewhat limited close to the Canadian border. In southeastern North Dakota, KABR provides good radar coverage for most of the area. West of the US-281 corridor, KMVX begins to lose range, but KMBX and KBIS pick up relatively quickly. So, even though there may be a narrow area of limited radar coverage here, any storms approaching from the west will usually be picked up by adjacent radar sites.
In summary, if there are storms in the forecast, eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota is a great place to storm chase. The flat terrain, good road network and mostly cooperative radar coverage allow for a highly favorable storm chasing environment.