Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 100, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 15, 1986Redwood County, Renville County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1986, 9:17 AM CDT for Redwood County, Renville County, Minnesota. It was in force for 43 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 15, 1986, 9:17 AM CDT (14:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1986, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN

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 15, 10:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Renville, MN

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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 123 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 1986-07-15Temperature 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 1986-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 151417
SVRMSP
MNC129-127-151500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
917 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...RENVILLE AND REDWOOD

AT 910 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LOCATED
BETWEEEN GRANITE FALLS AND MARSHALL IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA..ABOUT
100 MILES WEST OF THE TWIN CITIES..MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST
AT 35 MPH.  CITIES IN THE WARNING AREA ARE OLIVIA..REDWOOD FALLS..
AND WABASSO.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE
HAIL AmND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES. ALSO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN
AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING..SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF
SAFETY IF ONE IS SPOTTED.

WILLIS

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 15, 7:02 AM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
645 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 1986

AT 6 30 AM...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY TO LOCALLY VERY HEAVY RAINS
WERE INCREASING FROM NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ACROSS WEST CENTRAL INTO
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA.  HEAVIEST RAINS WERE OCCURRING FROM THE
SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER NEAR ORTONVILLE THRU THE ALEXANDRIA AREA TO NEAR
BRAINERD AND LITTLE FALLS IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A BROAD AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDER-
STORMS THAT EXTENDED UP TO 75 MILES WIDE...WITH THE LEADING EDGE OF THE
RAIN AREA FROM THE SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER NEAR CANBY TO NEAR ST CLOUD.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

MOTORISTS SHOULD TRAVEL WITH CAUTION IN THESE AREAS...THE HEAVY RAINS
COULD QUICKLY REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AND CAUSE PONDING OF WATER
IN LOW SPOTS.
  DOM
Special weather statement, Jul 15, 7:55 AM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
745 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 1986

AT 7 30 AM...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY TO LOCALLY VERY HEAVY RAINS
CONTINUED FROM NEAR WATERTOWN IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ACROSS CENTRAL
MINNESOTA.  HEAVIEST RAINS WERE OCCURRING FROM THE SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER
SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER SOUTH OF ORTONVILLE THRU THE ALEXANDRIA AREA TO NEAR
BRAINERD AND MILLE LACS LAKE IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A BROAD AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDER-
STORMS THAT EXTENDED UP TO 75 MILES WIDE...WITH THE LEADING EDGE OF THE
RAIN AREA FROM THE SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER NEAR CANBY THRU ST CLOUD INTO
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN...NEAR ASHLAND.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

MOTORISTS SHOULD TRAVEL WITH CAUTION IN THESE AREAS...THE HEAVY RAINS
COULD QUICKLY REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AND CAUSE PONDING OF WATER
IN LOW SPOTS.              DOM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 8:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine57 min
Jul 15, 10:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod, Sibley55 min
Jul 15, 10:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLe Sueur, Nicollet49 min
Jul 15, 11:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault, Martin53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.