While North Dakota sees an average of about 23 tornadoes a year, fatalities are rare, National Weather Service data indicates. The last tornado to claim three or more lives in the state was a July 4, 1978, storm that killed five people in Elgin. It was recorded as an F4.

At least three people were killed in North Dakota after severe weather swept across the region overnight, authorities said. The Cass County Sheriff's Office said it was dispatched to rural Enderlin, North Dakota,