Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 5, 1986Pembina County, Walsh County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1986, 1:25 AM CDT for Pembina County, Walsh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 65 min. 2 reports 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
Jul 5, 1986, 1:25 AM CDT (06:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1986, 2:30 AM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pembina County, ND, Walsh 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
Jul 5, 1:55 AM CDTHail 1.75Walsh, ND
Jul 5, 2:20 AM CDTHail 0.88Pembina, 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 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 304 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 00:00Z on 1986-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 114 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 00:00Z on 1986-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 139 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
114 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-397 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
483 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 050626
SVRFAR
NDC099-067-050730-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
125 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...WALSH AND PEMBINA

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF PARK RIVER..GRAFTON..CAVALIER.

AT 120 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 50 MILES
NORTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS OR JUST EAST OF WHITMAN NORTH DAKOTA.  THE
STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 58 MPH AND/OR HAIL 3/4 OF AN INCH OR LARGER...DEADLY LIGHTNING...
AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD A LOW LYING AREA.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...YOU SHOULD GO TO A PLACE OF
SAFETY IMMEDIATELY.  REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AFTER THE STORM PASSES.

THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING.
EWENS

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, Jul 4, 11:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
1135 PM CDT FRI JUL 4 1986

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM CDT SATURDAY
   MORNING FOR A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 1125 PM CDT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO
DEVELOP RAPIDLY OVER NORTHEAST AND MUCH OF CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA.
MOST OF THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE BETWEEN DEVILS LAKE...
JAMESTOWN...AND BISMARCK NORTH DAKOTA.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

AS OF 1130 PM CDT...NO SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED IN THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA.  HOWEVER...WEATHER CONDITIONS REMAIN VERY
UNSTABLE AND SEVERE ~THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP AT ANY TIME.  IF YOU
LIVE IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA...YOU SHOULD MONITOR LOCAL WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
MB
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 12:34 AM CDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
1225 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 1986

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM CDT SATURDAY
   MORNING FOR A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 1225 AM CDT...A LARGE AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..SOME WITH
HEAVY RAIN..CONTINUED OVER NORTHEAST..CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA. THE STORNGEST OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN
DEVILS LAKE AND GRAND FORKS NORTH DAKOTA.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

AS OF 1225 AM CDT...NO SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED IN THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA.  HOWEVER...WEATHER CONDITIONS REMAIN VERY
UNSTABLE AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP AT ANY TIME.  IF YOU
LIVE IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA...YOU SHOULD MONITOR LOCAL WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
ANDERSEN

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.