Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Duluth, MN

June 3, 1986Aitkin County, Minnesota

NWS Duluth, MN issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1986, 5:31 PM CDT for Aitkin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 3, 1986, 5:31 PM CDT (22:31 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1986, 6:10 PM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Duluth, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Aitkin County, MN

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1986-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1986-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1625 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDLH 032233
TORDLH
MNC001-032310-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
531 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 610 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST AITKIN INCLUDING THE TOWN OF
BALL BLUFF AND THE SANDY LAKE INDIAN RESERVATION.

AT 515 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 1 MILE EAST OCF HILL
CITY MN MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

 PERSONS IN THE WARNING AREA..TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. A BASEMENT..
 INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IS THE SAFEST PLACE
 IN MOST BUILDINGS.

CHRISTENSON

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jun 3, 11:38 AM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND PRECIPITATION SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
1140 AM CDT TUE JUNE 3 1986

AT 1130 AM THIS MORNING..DULUTH RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR.  THESE
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A BAND ABOUT 20 MILES WIDE AND
EXTENDED FROM THE APOSTLE ISLANDS IN LAKE SUPERIOR TO NORTHWEST ISTASCA
COUNTY OF MINNESOTA..ABOUT 125 MILES NORTHWEST OF DULUTH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDESTORMS WERE JUST NORTHWEST OF TWO HARBORS MINNESOTA
AND WILL BE MOVING OUT INTO LAKE SUPERIOR BY 1145 AM CDT.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 35 MPH.

HILL
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 4:07 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
400 PM CDT TUE JUNE 3 1986

AT 4PM THIS AFTERNOON DULUTH RADAR SHOWED RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF A THUNDER
STORM OVER NORTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS CENTERED
ABOUT 30 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF GRAND RAPIDS AND WAS MOVING EAST
SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH.  THE CASS COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE REPORTED
HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS AS IT MOVED ACROSS THE NORTHERN EDGE OF
LEECH LAKE MINNESOTA.

PRESENT MOVEMENT WOULD PUT IT NEAR REMER MINNESOTA..20 MILES SOUTH OF
GRAND RAPIDS BETWEEN 4.15 AND 4.30 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

WHILE NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM AT THIS
TIME..IT IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND HAIL ALONG WITH THE
HEAVY RAIN.

PETERSON
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 4:39 PM CDT, 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND PRECIPITATION SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
430 PM CDT TUE JUNE 3 1986

AT 425 THIS AFTERNOON...A 20 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF LEECH LAKE IN CASS COUNTY..ABOUT 110
MILES WEST OF DULUTH...THEN EAST NORTHEAST ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF
THE RANGE CITIES..THROUGH GILBERT AND AURORA. THE EXTENDED ALL THE WAY
EAST THROUGH ISABELLA..60 MILES NORTHEAST OF DULUTH..AND ON TO NEAR
GRAND MARAIS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR..90 MILES NORTHEAST OF
DULUTH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF HILL CITY..ABOUT
70 MILES WEST OF DULUTH..NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF CASS..ITASCA..AND
AITKIN COUNTIES. STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS..HEAVY RAINS..AND SMALL HAIL
HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM. STORM AT THIS

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
..CHRISTENSON..
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 4:46 PM CDT, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND PRECIPITATION SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
430 PM CDT TUE JUNE 3 1986

AT 425 THIS AFTERNOON...A 20 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF LEECH LAKE IN CASS COUNTY..ABOUT 110
MILES WEST OF DULUTH...THEN EAST NORTHEAST ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF
THE RANGE CITIES..THROUGH GILBERT AND AURORA. THE LINE EXTENDED ALL THE
WAY EAST THROUGH ISABELLA..60 MILES NORTHEAST OF DULUTH..AND ON TO NEAR
GRAND MARAIS ON THE SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR..90 MILES NORTHEAST OF
DULUTH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF HILL CITY..ABOUT
70 MILES WEST OF DULUTH..NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF CASS..ITASCA..AND
AITKIN COUNTIES. STRONG GUSTY SURFACE WINDS..HEAVY RAINS..AND SMALL HAIL
HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
..CHRISTENSON..

The office that day

Everything else NWS Duluth, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Saint Louis51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.