Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 15, 1987Beltrami County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1987, 1:50 PM CDT for Beltrami County, Minnesota. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 15, 1987, 1:50 PM CDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired: Aug 15, 1987, 2:50 PM CDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Beltrami 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

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 138 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 940 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KINL 151856 COR
SVRINL
MNC007-021-061-151950-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED              
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING     
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN
150 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 250 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTYS OF

NORTHCENTRAL MINNESOTA..SOUTHERN BELTRAMI...WESTERN ITASCA AND
NORTHERN CASS .

AT 150 PM..RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF
BEMIDJI MINNESOTA MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH.

REMEMBER..SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE
HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTING STRIKES. ALSO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND
OCCASIONALY DO PRODUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING..SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE
OF SAFETY IF ONE IS SPOTTED.

FAIRHURST

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

Local storm report, Aug 15, 11:00 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before

STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
1058 AM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

TIME      EVENT
1052AM    POLK CTY MN SHERIFF REPORTED A BRIEF DOWNPOUR WITH MARBLE
          SIZE HAIL IN THE CITY OF CROOKSTON MN.

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 12:50 PM CDT, 1 hour before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
1237 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FIRE-UP OVER NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...

AT 1228 PM CDT SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHWEST
MINNESOTA. ONE STRONG STORM WAS JUST WEST OF THE LOWER RED LAKE
AND SHOULD MOVE OVER THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE LAKE AND ON ACROSS
THE UPPER RED LAKE BY 130 PM.

ANOTHER CLUSTER OF STRONG STORMS WAS IN THE FOSSTON AREA. THESE STORMS
PRODUCE MARBLE SIZE HAIL..VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG..GUSTY WIND IN
FOSSTON. THESE STORM SHOULD MOVE TO THE WEST OF THE LOWER RED LAKE
BY 130 PM.

ANOTHER CLUSTER OF STRONG STORMS WAS IN THE SHELLY/HALSTAD AREA. THESE
STORMS SHOULD MOVE INTO THE FOSSTON AREA BY 130 PM.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS REACHED FROM 30 MILES SOUTH OF FARGO
NORTH DAKOTA TO THE UPPER RED LAKE IN NORTHCENTRAL MINNESOTA.

ANOTHER AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING OVER
CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA TO THE WEST OF DEVILS
LAKE.

MOVEMENT OF ALL OF THESE STORMS AND SHOWERS WAS EAST AT 35 MILES
AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF THE WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO GO TO A SAFE SHELTER..IF THE NEED ARISES.
BENNETT

Local storm report, Aug 15, 12:55 PM CDT, 55 minutes before

STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
1253 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

TIME      EVENT
1232PM    POLK CTY MN SHERIFF REPORTED STRONG WIND AND MARBLE SIZE HAIL
          IN THE CITY OF FOSSTON MN.

1233      RADIO STATION IN FOSSTON MN REPORTED VERY HEAVY RAIN..SMALL
          HAIL.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 15, 3:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Wilkin	41 min
Aug 15, 4:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Becker, Clay, Otter Tail	65 min
Aug 15, 5:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Mahnomen, Norman	54 min
Aug 15, 5:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Clay	54 min
Aug 15, 5:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Becker, Otter Tail, Wadena	61 min
Aug 15, 5:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Hubbard	61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1987 Every 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.