12 Amazing Storm Photos In North Dakota From Summer

North Dakota summers are something we wait all winter for. The hot, sunny days are perfect for getting the boat out of storage and into the water, to see the thousands of acres of fields filled with corn, wheat, soybeans, sunflowers, and more. Besides the mosquitoes, what’s not to love about ND summers? There is one part of them with which everyone has a love-hate relationship: the storms. This state’s summer storms are as beautiful as they can be intimidating. The rains bring relief to farms but the destruction of a tornado can be terrifying. North Dakotans love talking about the weather and watching a storm roll in – some even storm chase across the prairie in hopes of seeing supercells – so here are some glimpses into the mesmerizing imagery through storm photos in North Dakota.

A dark storm brewing over the badlands in western North Dakota.

informedmindstravel/Flickr

Distant rainclouds over fields, providing them with water in the hot summer.

Gabriel Carlson/Flickr

Uniquely beautiful cloud formations with lightning flashing through, captured over North Dakota.

Will Eades/WMO/Flickr

A rainstorm over a wind turbine farm in Dickey County, North Dakota.

Krista Lundgren/USFWS/Flickr

Rain often comes with beautiful rainbows, like this pair of them shot over the North Dakota badlands through the mist.

Kirsten/Flickr

Foreboding clouds over a farm with rain in the distant - both welcome and treated with caution.

Darla Hueske/Flickr

Evening storm clouds can be truly spectacular to see when they are alight with color.

NOAA National Weather Service/Flickr

Before the storm, the dark clouds gather in the distance while the sun still shines on the hills.

Justin Meissen/Flickr

These towering clouds were captured moving over the prairie near Valley City, North Dakota.

Jenny W/Flickr

Storms will shadow the North Dakota wetlands in darkness, or happen in the middle of the night and briefly light up the dark fields with lightning.

Rick Bohn/USFWS/Flickr

Storms like this that bring rain to the dry climate of the western region of the state allow it to be lush and green in the summer.

Yinan Chen/Flickr

After the rain, the storms pass on, dark walls bringing moisture across the prairie.

tuey/Flickr

Do you have any memories of seeing amazing summer storms in North Dakota? If you’ve captured photos like these that you’d like to share with other North Dakotans, be sure to join our North Dakota Nature Lovers group on Facebook.