Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 10, 1986Grand Forks County, Steele County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 10, 1986, 1:51 PM CDT for Grand Forks County, Steele County, North Dakota. It was in force for 69 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: Jul 10, 1986, 1:51 PM CDT (18:51 UTC)
Expired: Jul 10, 1986, 3:00 PM CDT
In force: 69 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Grand Forks County, ND, Steele 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 10, 2:40 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Steele, 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

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 316 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 492 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 197 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 101851
TORFAR
NDC091-035-102000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
151 PM CDT THU JUL 10 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHERN STEELE AND SOUTHERN GRAND FORKS

AT 140 PM CDT FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS NEAR THE TOWNS OF ANETA AND FINLEY..IN EAST CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA..ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS.

IF A TORNADO IS APPROACHING GET INTO A BASEMENT...IF NO BASEMENT
IS AVAILABLE...GET INTO THE INNERMOST HALLWAY...STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.  IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE GET INTO A DITCH...GULLY...RAVINE...OR
EVEN A LOW LYING SPOT ON THE GROUND.  PROTECT YOUR HEAD.  ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY.

 THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOW*NS OF FINLEY..SHARON..AND NORTHWOOD.

ARMSTRONG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 10, 4:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Grand Forks, Steele	59 min
Jul 10, 4:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Cass	48 min
Jul 10, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Cass	55 min
Jul 10, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Traill	55 min
Jul 10, 6:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Cass	54 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes 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.