A line of hail -- some of it nickel-sized and a little larger -- stretched from southwestern Grand Forks to northern Steele and Traill counties. In places, that hail blew into drifts 6 inches deep or deeper along roads and in ditches.

Above freshly planted fields made slick by a silver coat of hail, thick ground fog hung, and farmers in the area came out to examine their crops.

"This is all we needed," said Wyatt Halvorson, a farm worker who was moving equipment Wednesday afternoon. They'd just finished planting, he said, and were transferring equipment for the summer.

"We were driving down the road with the rain and hail right on our butts," he said, pulling over for a look at hail-damaged fields about six miles north of Hatton.

A few minutes later, Ethan and Ed Grindeland pulled up for a look at their own fields.

"It's been a real battle getting the crops in" because of ongoing wet weather, Ethan Grindeland said, "and some crops north of here aren't in."

The brothers crunched through the hail on the roadside and ditch. Ethan Grindeland picked a soybean plant that had just emerged, and said hail on soybeans that young would cost him, although he said young soybeans could stand some damage and still pay out.

In a section particularly hard hit by the hail, the brothers had planted two quarters of soybeans and two of wheat. Ethan Grindeland said he expects the wheat, which was about 5 inches tall, was badly damaged by the weather.

As the hail melted into water in the fields around him, Ethan said the resulting water would damage the crop as well.

He shrugged, and said he'd have to wait and see what the insurance man said.

On the Interstate

Along Interstate 29 near the Mayville, N.D., exit, hail blew into drifts along the eastern edge of both sets of lanes, accumulating banks 2 or 3 feet wide and up to 8 inches deep. That hail remained, unmelted, for at least three hours after it fell.

Thick ground fog in the hail areas reduced visibility in some cases to less than 100 feet for short distances.

Traill County Deputy Paul Anderson said construction workers just south of the Mayville exit working on the Interstate saw two tornadoes touch down Wednesday afternoon, and decided it was a good time to quit working.

Anderson hadn't found any tornado damage, he added, but said he'd estimated winds of 70 mph for a few moments near the American Crystal Sugar plant near Hillsboro.