Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1987, 4:25 PM CDT for Becker County, Clay County, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 65 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 15, 1987, 4:25 PM CDT (21:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 15, 1987, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Becker County, MN, Clay County, MN, 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 5:25 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Otter 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 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 279 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1101 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 654 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 68 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
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
Local storm report, Aug 15, 11:00 AM CDT, 5 hours 25 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, 3 hours 35 minutes 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, 3 hours 30 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, 1:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Beltrami | 60 min |
| Aug 15, 3:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Wilkin | 41 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, 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.