Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 19, 1987, 9:34 PM MDT for Adams County, North Dakota. It was in force for 26 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 19, 1987, 9:34 PM MDT (03:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 19, 1987, 10:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 26 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Adams County, ND
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 90 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -185 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1852 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBIS 200334 TORBIS NDC001-200400- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 934 PM MDT SUN JUL 19 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...EASTERN ADAMS AT 925 PM MDT WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ALONG THE NORTH DAKOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER 5 MILES WEST OF LEMMON SOUTH DAKOTA...OR 75 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWSO. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES. THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. RSL/0332Z
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 19, 6:25 PM MDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 615 PM MDT SUN JUL 19 1987 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA... AT 610 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A SMALL GROUP OF INTENSIFYING THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF NORTH DAKOTA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE STATE...25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BOWMAN...OR 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL LIKELY PASS NEAR THE TOWNS BOWMAN AND SCRANTON BEFORE 7 PM MDT. VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE PASSAGE OF THIS THUNDERSTORM. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM...WITH HEAVY RAIN...WAS LOCATED 25 MILES SOUTH OF DICKINSON AND WILL PASS NEAR THE TOWNS OF REGENT AND MOTT. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. LEBLANG
Local storm report, Jul 19, 9:15 PM MDT, 19 minutes before
STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1015 PM CDT SUN JUL 19 1987
TIME ZONE EVENT...LOCATION...REMARKS
805 PM CDT PEA SIZE HAIL NEAR AMIDON IN SLOPE COUNTY.
820 PM CDT MCARBLE SIZE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN 8 MILES WEST OF
HETTINGER IN ADAMS COUNTY.
907 PM GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL .75 INCH RAIN FELL IN 15 MIN
AT REGENT IN HETTINGER COUNTY.
TURNERSpecial weather statement, Jul 19, 9:16 PM MDT, 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND 915 PM MDT SUN JUL 19 1987 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN DUNN AND MOUNTRAIL COUNTIES IN WESTCENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA... AT 905 PM MDT WILLISTON RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM MANNING IN DUNN COUNTY TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF PARSHALL IN MOUNTRAIL COUNTY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED SOUTH OF PARSHALL. PERSONS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE STORMS SHOULDD BE PREPARED FOR GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. NEWKIRK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 7:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Adams | 58 min |
| Jul 19, 8:22 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Adams, Sioux | 38 min |
| Jul 19, 8:58 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Sioux | 32 min |
| Jul 19, 9:02 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Grant | 58 min |
| Jul 19, 9:46 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Sioux | 59 min |
| Jul 19, 10:48 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Emmons | 72 min |
| Jul 19, 10:52 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Sioux | 68 min |
| Jul 19, 11:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Emmons, Logan, McIntosh | 62 min |
| Jul 20, 12:25 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Bowman | 65 min |
| Jul 20, 1:31 AM MDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Hettinger | 29 min |
| Jul 20, 1:46 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Hettinger | 29 min |
| Jul 20, 2:15 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Grant, Hettinger, Slope | 60 min |
| Jul 20, 2:15 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Bowman | 60 min |
| Jul 20, 2:53 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Morton | 37 min |
| Jul 20, 3:17 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Adams, Hettinger | 58 min |
| Jul 20, 4:07 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Grant | 68 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.