Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 1, 1987Ransom County, Richland County, Sargent County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 1, 1987, 2:02 AM CDT for Ransom County, Richland County, Sargent County, North Dakota. It was in force for 58 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 1, 1987, 2:02 AM CDT (07:02 UTC)
Expired: Aug 1, 1987, 3:00 AM CDT
In force: 58 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 1, 3:00 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56	Richland, 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 00:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 171 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: 2890 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -150 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2250 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 010702
TORFAR
NDC073-077-081-010800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
202 AM CDT SAT AUG 1 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTHERN RANSOM...WESTERN RICHLAND AND 
 NORTHERN SARGENT

TO INCLUDE THE TOWN OF MILNOR.
AT 0152 AM CDT LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER REPORTED A TORNADO MIDWAY
BETWEEN GWINNER AND MILNOR MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.
IF CAUGHT OUTDOORS...GET INTO A DITCH...GULLY...RAVINE...OR EVEN
A LOW LYING SPOT ON THE GROUND.  PROTECT YOUR HEAD.

VOELKER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 1, 3:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Richland	50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1987 Every tornado warning in 1987 Tornadoes 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.