Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 21, 1987Cass County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1987, 6:29 PM CDT for Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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, 6:29 PM CDT (23:29 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1987, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Cass 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
Jul 21, 6:50 PM CDTTornado F0Cass, ND
Jul 21, 7:39 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Cass, 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

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 243 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

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 212329
SVRFAR
NDC017-220030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
629 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...CASS

TO INCLUDE THE TOWNS AND CITIES OF CASSLETON...PAGE...BUFFALO AND
THE FARGO/MOORHEAD AREA.
AT 625PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 40 MILES NORTH-
WEST OF FARGO OR 15 MLES WEST OF PAGE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT
40 MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 58 MPH AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER...DEADLY LIGHTNING...
AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD A LOW LYING AREA.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...YOU SHOULD GO TO A PLACE OF
SAFETY IMMEDIATELY.  REPORT ALL SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AFTER THE STORM PASSES.

VOELKER

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 51 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

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.