Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 19, 1986Morton County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 19, 1986, 5:14 PM MDT for Morton County, North Dakota. It was in force for 61 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 19, 1986, 5:14 PM MDT (23:14 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 1986, 6:15 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Morton County, ND

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 19, 5:33 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 52Morton, ND

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 45 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1986-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1955 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1986-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 188 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1955 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-274 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
195 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 192314
SVRBIS
NDC059-200015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
614 PM CDT TUE AUG 19 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...EASTERN MORTON

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF ALMONT..NEW SALEM AND MANDAN.

15 615 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE
CITY OF ALMONT OR 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK. THE
STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.  THIS STORM
HAS PRODUCED GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL..50 MPH WIND AND VERY HEAVY
RAIN.

THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY DEVELOP WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH
OR HAIL 3/4 OF AN INCH OR LARGER. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES
TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. REMEMBER THAT LIGHTNING IS A THUNDERSTORMS
MOST DEADLY WEAPON. REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AFTER THE STORM PASSES.

REMEMBER THESE STORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE A TORNADO
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

KAS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 19, 4:08 PM MDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
505 PM CDT TUE AUG 19 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH
DAKOTA...

AT 500 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN AN AREA FROM 15 MILES
NORTH OF DICKINSON TO 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF BISMARCK.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF BISMARCK
IN MORTON COUNTY..30 MILES WEST OF BISMARCK NEAR NEW SALEM..AND
35 MILES NORTHEAST OF DICKINSON IN SOUTHERN MERCER COUNTY. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY
WIND.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA TONIGHT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 19, 4:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMorton, Oliver34 min
Aug 19, 5:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh57 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.