Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Twin Cities, MN

April 26, 1986Freeborn County, Steele County, Waseca County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 26, 1986, 8:17 PM CST for Freeborn County, Steele County, Waseca County, Minnesota. It was in force for 3 hr. 3 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
Apr 26, 1986, 8:17 PM CST (02:17 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1986, 11:00 PM CST
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Freeborn County, MN, Steele County, MN, Waseca 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
Apr 26, 10:13 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 59Waseca, MN
Apr 26, 10:25 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Steele, MN
Apr 26, 10:30 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Waseca, 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 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 00:00Z on 1986-04-27Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1986-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1228 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
272 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 KRST 270417
SVRRST
MNC161-047-147-270500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER MN
1017 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF


SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...EASTERN WASECA...NORTHERN FREEBORN AND 
 STEELE

AT 1005 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
;ALBERT LEA TO WASECA MOVING TO THE EAST AT 25 MPH.

AT 1005 PM CDT 68 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED BY THE CIVIL
DEFENSE AT WASECA MN.

 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCES STRONG DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL
 ..VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

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, Apr 26, 6:35 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
635 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE INCREASED RAPIDLY IN INTENSITY OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST
MINNESOTA.  THEY WERE MAINLY IN A 50 MILE WIDE AREA FROM JUST SOUTH
OF REDWOOD FALLS...SOUTHWEST TO SIOUX FALLS SOUTH DAKOTA.  WHILE NO
SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED IN MINNESOTA BY 630 PM...PERSONS IN
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF CONTINUED
STRENGTHENING OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.

AN ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWER WAS FALLING OVER NORTHWEST WISCONSIN BETWEEN
RUSH CITY AND SHELL LAKE.  WIDELY SCATTERED RAINSHOWERS WERE FALLING
NEAR ALEXANDRIA IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
KRAFT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 10:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Hennepin, Scott52 min
Apr 26, 10:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRamsey52 min
Apr 26, 10:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka41 min
Apr 26, 10:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWashington42 min
Apr 26, 11:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXOlmsted, Wabasha60 min
Apr 26, 11:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMower60 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.