Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Bismarck, ND

June 16, 1987Dunn County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 1987, 6:41 PM MDT for Dunn County, North Dakota. It was in force for 44 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
Jun 16, 1987, 6:41 PM MDT (00:41 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1987, 7:25 PM MDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Dunn 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
Jun 16, 7:00 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 61Dunn, 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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 159 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 1987-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2241 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 1987-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
2241 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KISN 170041
SVRISN
NDC025-170125-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
641 PM MDT TUE JUN 16 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 725 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

WEST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...DUNN

AT 624 MDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES NORTH
OF DICKINSON ND.  MOVEMENT OF THIS STORM WAS TO THE NORTH AT
25 MPH.

AT 624 PM MDT 71 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED AT THE DICKINSON AIRPORT.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORECED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND 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, Jun 16, 2:45 PM MDT, 3 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
340 PM CDT TUE JUN 16 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 330 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A LINE OF DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM 10 MILES WEST OF DICKINSON NORTHWEST TO 35 MILES NORTH
OF DICKINSON. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF DICKINSON.
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWESTERN DUNN COUNTY BY 4 PM CDT.
TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE NEW HRADEC.

HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY SURFACE WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL
IS POSSIBLE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THIS STORM.

THE AIR REMAINS VERY UNSTABLE OVER NORTH DAKOTA AND ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY BECOME SEVERE ARE LIKELY OVER THE
WEST AND CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE THIS EVENING.
LEBLANG
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 3:49 PM MDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
450 PM CDT TUE JUN 16 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING TO DEVELOP OVER WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 440 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR DETECTED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER
WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA INTO NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN DUNN COUNTY OF NORTH DAKOTA
30 MILES NORTHEAST OF DICKINSON.

HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL
IS POSSIBLE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THIS STORM.

THE AIR REMAINS VERY UNSTABLE OVER NORTH DAKOTA AND ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY BECOME SEVERE ARE LIKELY OVER THE
WEST AND CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE THIS EVENING.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 5:02 PM MDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
600 PM CDT TUE JUN 16 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 550 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO DETECTED SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA INTO NORTHWEST SOUTH
DAKOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN WESTERN BOWMAN COUNTY...60
MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

THE AIR REMAINS VERY UNSTABLE OVER NORTH DAKOTA AND ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY BECOME SEVERE ARE LIKELY OVER THE
WESTB AND CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE THIS EVENING.
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 5:58 PM MDT, 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
700 PM CDT TUE JUN 16 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL
 NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT...

AT 650 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO DETECTED THUNDERSTORMS
OVER SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA INTO NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN EASTERN SLOPE COUNTY...25
MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND SMALL HAIL
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

AT 635 PM CDT AMIDON NORTH DAKOTA...30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON
 REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN AND 50 MILE AN HOUR WINDS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 6:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStark61 min
Jun 16, 7:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean, Ward58 min
Jun 16, 7:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMercer58 min
Jun 16, 7:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcKenzie47 min
Jun 16, 7:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGrant58 min
Jun 16, 8:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean37 min
Jun 16, 8:21 PM MDTTornado WarningBISMcLean, Ward24 min
Jun 16, 9:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISEmmons57 min
Jun 16, 9:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.