It was in 1951 and farmers of Emmons and McIntosh Counties were optimistic about this year’s crops. It looked to be one of the best crops they had ever had, but it was late at night just 55 years ago on this date when many of these crops were pummeled by ice chunks the size of a man’s fist.

The storm, reported to be ten miles deep and forty miles long, was a sporadic one, too. The Ashley Tribune reported that this “freakish” hail storm “oddly ... lifted here and there, sparing numerous fields, while others nearby were almost totally destroyed.” Near Kintyre in Emmons County, the storm cut a path four miles wide and twenty miles long through some fields, putting farmers at a 100 percent loss. Yet other farmers, especially in nearby Fredonia of Logan County only reported a three percent loss. Only one farmer near Fredonia reported extensive damage, making this the sixth year in a row he’d been hailed out.

Heavy moisture accompanied the hail, with McIntosh County receiving one and three quarters inches of rain. High winds knocked out windows in homes in barns, and lightning started a farmhouse near Strasburg on fire. The storm continued through the night early into the next morning. The next morning, after the storm cleared, the sight many walked out to was that of broken windows, dented siding, trampled crops, and in some areas, ditches filled one foot deep with hail.

Two hundred loss claims were reported to the McIntosh County Auditor’s office following the storm. It was a tragedy for many who were expecting a bumper crop, and many others who had plans to begin harvesting later that week. Kintyre postmaster Ed Ellingson commented on the destructive storm. “It’s a sad sight after the finest stand that any of the old timers had ever seen.”

By Tessa Sandstrom

Sources:
The Ashley Tribune. July 19, 1951: 1.
Emmons County Record. July 19, 1951: 1.
Kintyre, ND Centennial, 1904-2004. Kintyre, ND, 2004: 54.
The Wishek Star. July 19, 1951: 1.

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