Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 21, 1987Clay County, Norman County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1987, 6:11 PM CDT for Clay County, Norman County, Minnesota. It was in force for 49 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 21, 1987, 6:11 PM CDT (23:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1987, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clay County, MN, Norman County, MN

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

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 287 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1987-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 665 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1987-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 132 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
665 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-356 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1098 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

Special weather statement, Jul 21, 3:38 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
335 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS
   TUESDAY EVENING FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTH DAKOTA AND A PART
   OF NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...

AT 325 PM CDT...A PAIR OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
30 MILES AND 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF JAMESTOWN NORTH DAKOTA OR
NEAR THE TOWNS OF NEW ROCKFORD AND CARRINGTON.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO GRIGGS
AND SOUTHERN NELSON COUNTIES BY 425 PM CDT.  PERSONS LIVING IN THESE
AREAS...ESPECIALLY THE TOWNS OF COOPERSTOWN...HANNAFORD...AND DAZEY
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF NECESSARY.

ALSO AT 325 PM CDT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH
HEAVY RAIN...WERE LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA.
THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS W(ERE ALSO MOVING TO THE EAST AT
40 MILES AN HOUR.
MB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGriggs54 min
Jul 21, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSteele53 min
Jul 21, 4:51 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBarnes, Cass, Steele39 min
Jul 21, 4:51 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFTraill39 min
Jul 21, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Griggs59 min
Jul 21, 5:36 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass, Traill54 min
Jul 21, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Steele56 min
Jul 21, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.