Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 1987, 4:51 PM CDT for Barnes County, Cass County, Steele County, North Dakota. It was in force for 39 min. 2 reports 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
- Jul 21, 1987, 4:51 PM CDT (21:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 21, 1987, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 39 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Barnes County, ND, Cass County, ND, Steele 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 5:02 PM CDT | Hail 2 | Steele, ND | |
| Jul 21, 5:20 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Cass, 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
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 232 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
- 707 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -206 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 955 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 135 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 212151 TORFAR NDC003-017-091-097-212230- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND 451 PM CDT TUE JUL 21 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHEAST BARNES...NORTHERN CASS... STEELE AND TRAILL AT 541 CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 60 MILES NORTHWEST OF FARGO NORTH DAKOT OR 10 MILES WEST OF HOPE NORTH DAKOTA. 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. IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM...GO TO A REINFORCED SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL... VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING...LARGE HAIL...AND DANGEROUS STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. VOELKER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 21, 3:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Griggs | 54 min |
| Jul 21, 4:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Steele | 53 min |
| Jul 21, 4:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Traill | 39 min |
| Jul 21, 5:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes, Griggs | 59 min |
| Jul 21, 5:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Cass, Traill | 54 min |
| Jul 21, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes, Steele | 56 min |
| Jul 21, 6:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cass | 61 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.