Jamestown escapes worst of Wednesday storms as severe weather shifts south, east

Jamestown and much of Stutsman County dodged the worst of Wednesday’s severe weather as the storm threat shifted south and east, leaving the immediate area with less impact than some nearby communities. Multiple supercell formations were tracked across North Dakota, including near Valley City, Ashley and LaMoure, but preliminary storm reports from the National Weather Service showed no tornadoes forming in the state during the period covered and no severe wind reports in the preliminary data.

That made Wednesday a near-miss for Jamestown residents, farmers and rural drivers who had been watching the radar as storms developed. The biggest hail report in the region came far from Stutsman County, in Mekinock, north of Grand Forks, where 1-inch hail was logged about 1 mile east of town at 6:18 p.m. CDT on June 3. That event was part of a larger storm system that affected 11 states and 247 cities, with an estimated 176 properties exposed to hail of 1.00 inch or larger.

The pattern fit a broader late-spring split across the northern plains: one county could escape with little more than heavy rain and lightning while another faced hail or tornado concerns. For Stutsman County, the practical takeaway is that Wednesday’s system did not produce the kind of major tornado or severe wind damage that had been possible earlier in the day. Even so, the threat was close enough to keep attention on rural roads, livestock, crop fields and outdoor plans, since storm tracks can shift quickly across central and eastern North Dakota.

More severe weather was still on the table after Wednesday. In its June 4 forecast discussion, the National Weather Service Bismarck office said low to medium chances of showers and thunderstorms would continue through the rest of the week, with isolated severe thunderstorms possible over far south North Dakota late Thursday afternoon into early evening. Forecasters said the setup was only marginally favorable for severe storms mainly in southwest and far south central North Dakota, with stronger easterly flow, greater instability and shear farther south. The same discussion pointed to a more active severe-weather pattern over the weekend and into next week.

The National Weather Service Grand Forks office’s event-summaries page still showed no completed 2026 summaries when those notes were compiled, a reminder that the storm season was still unfolding. The Bismarck office’s severe-weather history for North Dakota also underscores how quickly conditions can vary county by county, even during the same outbreak. For Jamestown and Stutsman County, Wednesday ended as a warning that missed the mark, but not a reason to stop watching.