Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 15, 1987Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1987, 7:37 PM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 38 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, 7:37 PM CDT (00:37 UTC)
Expired: Aug 15, 1987, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 38 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 15, 7:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	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 00:00Z, 0.6 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-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: 1675 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -115 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1435 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 160037
TORFAR
MNC111-160115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
737 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...SOUTHEAST OTTER TAIL

AT 730 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FERGUS
FALLS NEAR EAGLE LAKE ON HIGHWAY 78.  DAMAGE TO CABINS AND SOME
INJURIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED.  RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF OTTERTAIL COUNTY.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAKL 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.

EWENS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, 5:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before

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

TIME      EVENT
345PM     RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES
          WEST OF WAHPETON NORTH DAKOTA.

400PM     CHRISTINE NORTH DAKOTA CO OPERATIVE OBSERVER REPORTED PEA
          TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL.

502PM     GOFLBALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED 20 MILES NORTH OF FARGO...EAST
          OF GARDNER NORTH DAKOTA.

520PM     DETROIT LAKES WARNING POINT REPORTED 1 INCH HAIL AT VERGAS
          MINNESOTA IN OTTERTAIL COUNTY.

525PM     HAM RADIO OPERATOR REPORTED GOFLBALL SIZED HAIL 6 MILES WEST
          OF DENT MINNESOTA.
EWENS

Local storm report, Aug 15, 6:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

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

TIME      EVENT
600 PM    PARK RAPIDS AIRPORT OBSERVER REPORTED A SMALL TORNADO 2 TO
          3 MILES SOUTH OF AIRPORT.  BRIEF TOUCHDOWN THEN WENT BACK
          INTO CLOUDS.

605 PM    RADIO STATION REPORTED PUBLIC REPORT OF 1 INCH HAIL 1 MILE
          SOUTH OF VALLEY CITY.  OCCURRED AT 545 PM CDT.

609 PM    DETROIT LAKES WARNING POINT REPORTED 2 FUNNEL CLOUDS SOUTHEAST
          OF DETROIT LAKES.  WENT BACK INTO CLOUDS.
EWENS

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 6:37 PM CDT, 1 hour before

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

..TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 900PM CDT FOR PORTIONS OF EAST SOUTH DAKOTA..
PORTIONS OF MINNESOTA..EXTREME SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 630 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED
OVER PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AS WELL AS
WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE IN A LINE FROM 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BEMIDJI NEAR LEECH LAKE..
SOUTHWEST TO NEAR FERGUS FALLS.  OTHER INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
60 MILES WEST OF ALEXANDRIA MINNESOTA NEAR WHEATON AND BROWNS VALLEY
MINNESOTA.  SEVEREAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG THE RED RIVER
20 MILES NORTH OF FARGO AND OVER NORTHWEST CASS COUNTY NEAR PAGE AND
AMENIA.

LOCALIZED FLOODING IS LIKELY DUE TO THE REPEAT MOVEMENT OVER AREAS
OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
.
THE OVERALL INTENSITY HAD DECREASED SINCE 530 PM CDT.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU LIVE IN THE WATCH AREAS PLEASE STAY TUNED TO RADIO AND T.V. AS
WELL AS NOAA WEAHTER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
EWENS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 15, 7:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Wadena	41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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.