Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 110, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 15, 1987Kandiyohi County, Stearns County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1987, 8:20 PM CDT for Kandiyohi County, Stearns County, Minnesota. It was in force for 60 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
Aug 15, 1987, 8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1987, 9:20 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kandiyohi County, MN, Stearns 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 15, 8:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Stearns, MN
Aug 15, 9:14 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Kandiyohi, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 110 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1987-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1675 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1987-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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 KSTC 160124
SVRSTC
MNC067-145-160220-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
820 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 920 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

CENTRAL MINNESOTA...WESTERN STEARNS AND KANDIYOHI INCLUDING 
THE CITIES OF SAUK CENTRE...BELGRADE...NEW LONDON AND WILLMAR.

AT 815 RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AS PART OF A LINE OF
DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED SOUTH FROM STAPLES...30 MILES
WEST OF BRAINERD SOUTH TO WILLMAR. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT
30 MPH.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE
HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES.  ALSO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN
AND OCCASIONALLY 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.

FRASER

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

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 2:29 PM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
225 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL OVER MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND
   TONIGHT...

THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS WILL EXIST
OVER MINNESOTA THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND DURING THE NIGHT TONIGHT.

AS OF 200 PM THIS AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS REACHED SEVERE
LIMITS AS THEY MOVED FROM NORTHWEST INTO SECTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
MINNESOTA.  MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD
OF A STRONG COLD FRONT IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON.  THIS
COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EAST THROUGH CENTRAL MINNESOTA TONIGHT CUTTING
THROUGH A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS.  THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLY
WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD FROM NORTHWEST
AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THROUGH THE STATE BY SUNDAY MORNING.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY ALSO BRING PERIODS OF INTENSE RAINFALL.
<
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO APPROACH FROM THE WEST SO THOSE OUTDOORS
EITHER CAMPING OR ON LAKES SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY AND BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.  STAY TUNED TO A LOCAL MEDIA
STATION FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES OR WARNINGS.
WJH
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 7:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST. CLOUD MN
710 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

...TORNADO WATCH FOR WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA
   UNTIL 900 PM CDT...

AT 705 PM CDT A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED BY RADAR
FROM FERGUS FALLS SOUTHWEST THROUGH WESTERN SWIFT AND LAC QUI PARLE
COUNTIES OF WESTERN MINNESOTA.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE A HISTORY
OF PRODUCING GUST WINDS...HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES AND BRIEF
HEAVY RfAIN.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

PERSONS IN SWIFT...POPE AND LAC QUI PARLE COUNTIES SHOULD BE PREPARED
TO GO TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES.

FRASER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope57 min
Aug 15, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Swift60 min
Aug 15, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXTodd60 min
Aug 15, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMorrison60 min
Aug 15, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXYellow Medicine60 min
Aug 15, 9:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Meeker, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns60 min
Aug 16, 1:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMower, Olmsted50 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.