Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Duluth, MN

August 29, 1987Pine County, Minnesota; Burnett County, Wisconsin

NWS Duluth, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 29, 1987, 8:33 PM CDT for Pine County, Minnesota; Burnett County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 29, 1987, 8:33 PM CDT (01:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1987, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Duluth, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pine County, MN, Burnett County, WI

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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 151 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 1987-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1569 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1987-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 183 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
1569 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1398 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
341 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
12.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDLH 300133
TORDLH
MNC115-WIC013-300230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
833 PM CDT SAT AUG 29 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...EXTREME SOUTHEAST PINE
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN...BURNETT


AT 820 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED 4 MILES SOUTH OF PINE CITY
MINNESOTA..OR 85 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF DULUTH..MOVING EAST.
LARGE HAIL WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS AS THEY CROSS THE
WISCONSIN STATE LINE INTO BURNETT COUNTY.
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS INCLUDE GRANTSBURG AND SIREN IN
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF A TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE..GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON MOBILE H+OMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR
GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

BROCKEL

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, Aug 29, 8:04 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN
800 PM CDT SAT AUG 29 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN  EFFECT FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA
UNTIL 1000 PM CDT...

AT 755 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA...

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BREIF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY
SURFACE WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTENING STRIKES ALONG WITH SOME SMALL
HAIL. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 35 TO 45 MPH. THE
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF BEMIDJI IN
NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE CITIES OF BAGLEY AND
PINEWOOD BY 715 TO 730 AND THE CITY OF BEMIDJI BY APROXIMATELY 900 PM
CDT.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR FAVORITE NEWS MEDIUM IN THE EVENT FURTHER
STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS ARE REQUIRED.

JOSEPHS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 10:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Itasca58 min
Aug 29, 10:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCrow Wing58 min
Aug 29, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Pine67 min
Aug 29, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHKanabec67 min
Aug 29, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis67 min
Aug 29, 9:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHBurnett56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1987Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 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.