Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 66, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 2, 1987Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1987, 8:40 PM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 55 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
Aug 2, 1987, 8:40 PM CDT (01:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1987, 9:35 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Otter Tail County, MN

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
Aug 2, 8:58 PM CDTHail 1Otter Tail, MN

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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 239 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 1987-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2050 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 1987-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2050 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1462 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3

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, Aug 2, 8:34 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
835 PM CDT SUN AUG 2 1987

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP JUST SOUTHEAST OF FARGO
NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 827 PM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY
OVER PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND OVER PARTS OF WEST
CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF FERGUS
FALLS IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND
WERE INCREASING IN INTENSITY. PERSONS SHOULD BE ON THE OUTLOOK
FOR POSSIBLE ADVERSE WEATHER AND SEEK SHELTER IF NECESSARY.
THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS..HAIL
AND STRONG SURFACE WINDS.
NORDLAND

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 9:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom, Sargent66 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.