Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1987, 8:49 PM CDT for Wells County, North Dakota. It was in force for 56 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 21, 1987, 8:49 PM CDT (01:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 21, 1987, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 56 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wells 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 21, 9:15 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Wells, 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, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 120 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 448 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -370 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 701 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 454 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 25.2
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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
Local storm report, Jul 21, 3:56 PM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
400 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987
TIME ZONE EVENT...LOCATION...REMARKS
222 PM CDT GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL 12 MILES SOUTH OF MCCLUSKY
(BURLEIGH CO)...BROKE WINDOWS AND DAMAGED CROPS.
239 PM CDT GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL AT DENHOFF (SHERIDAN CO).
308 PM CDT GOLFBALL-SIZED HAIL 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CARRINGTON
(FOSTER CO).
321 PM CDT WIND GUSTSA TO 66 MPH AT CARRINGTON...GROUND IS
WHITE WITH HAIL...STREET FLOODING WITH WATER UP TO
TWO FEET DEEP.
RCMSpecial weather statement, Jul 21, 4:18 PM CDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 415 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND MOST OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING... AT 410 PM CDT SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN NORTHERN STUTSMAN COUNTY.. 20 MILES NORTH OF JAMESTOWN..AND 5 MILES EAST OF FESSENDEN IN WELLS COUN\TY..OR 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEVILS LAKE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN HAIL..GUSTY WINDS AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 5:02 PM CDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 500 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND MOST OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING... AT 5 PM CDT AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTHEAST STUTSMAN COUNTY..5 MILES NORTH OF COURTENAY OR 23 MILES NORTHEAST OF JAMESTOWN. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL LIKELY CONTAIN HAIL..STRONG WINDS AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN. ANOTHER INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN EDDY COUNTY JUST EAST OF NEW ROCKFORD. AT 446 PM CDT MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED BETWEEN NEW ROCKFORD AND SHEYENNE IN ROCKFORD COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL LIKELY CONTAIN HAIL UP TO MARBLE SIZE.. STRONG WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 5:23 PM CDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 420 PM MDT TUE JUL 21 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND MOST OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING... AT 415 PM MDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN SLOPE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF AMIDON..OR 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL TRACK JUST NORTH OF THE TOWN OF AMIDON ON ITS EASTWARD ROUTE THROUGH SLOPE COUNTY. HAIL..STRONG WINDS..BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THIS THUNDERSTORM. VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 6:05 PM CDT, 2 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 600 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND MOST OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING... AT 6 PM CDT AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING THROUGH EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH EASTERN WELLS AND EDDY COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN FESSENDEN AND NEW ROCKFORD..50 MILES NORTHWEST OF JAMESTOWN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL..STRONG WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVE EAST AT 40 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH EDDY AND FOSTER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6 AND 7 PM CDT. PERSONS IN THESE COUNTIES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IF SEVERE WEATHER IS SPOTTED. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA 15 MILES WEST OF DICKINSON. THE STORM HAS WEAKENED DURING THE PAST HOUR BUT STILL MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO THE DICKINSON AREA BY 530 PM MDT. VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 7:42 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 740 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND MOST OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING... THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR EDDY AND FOSTER COUNTIES HAS EXPIRED. THE SEVERE STORMS HAVE MOVED INTO GRIGGS AND NELSON COUNTIES. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS BENSON..NORTHERN EDDY AND RAMSEY COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN AN AREA FROM DEVILS LAKE TO 15 MILES SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF DEVILS LAKE. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. AT 740 PM CDT THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALL LOCATED IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA. NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE DETECTED FROM SOUTHWEST THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. HOWEVER..THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS VERY UNSTABLE AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP VERY RAPIDLY IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA LATgER THIS EVENING. VAN ESS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 9:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Eddy | 35 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.