Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 124, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 29, 1987Chisago County, Isanti County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 29, 1987, 8:21 PM CDT for Chisago County, Isanti County, Minnesota. It was in force for 54 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 29, 1987, 8:21 PM CDT (01:21 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1987, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chisago County, MN, Isanti 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 29, 8:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Isanti, MN
Aug 29, 9:10 PM CDTHail 1.5Chisago, 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, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 85 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 1987-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1569 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 1987-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 183 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
1569 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1398 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
341 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
12.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 300121
SVRMSP
MNC059-025-300215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
821 PM CDT SAT AUG 29 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
 ISANTI AND NORTHERN CHISAGO


AT 815 PM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY RADAR NEAR
CAMBRIDGE IN ISANTI COUNTY AND NEAR NORTH BRANCH IN NORTHERN
CHISAGO COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.  THIS IS ABOUT 40
MILES NORTH OF DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS.  THEY WERE MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.  CITIES IN THE PATH OF THESE THUNDSTORMS
ARE CAMBRIDGE AND NORTH BRANCH.  THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE
DAMAGING HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60
MPH..DESTRUCTIVE HAIL..DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. ALSO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCC#ASIONALLY 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.

PAULSON

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 29, 7:53 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
750 PM CDT SAT AUG 29 1987

AT 750 PM...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING
NEAR LITCHFIELD IN SOUTHERN MCLEOD COUNTY OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
AND NEAR PRINCETON IN SOUTHERN MILLE LACS COUNTY OF EAST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA.  ALTHOUGH NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN RECIEVED
...THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SUGGESTS THAT
THEY MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  MARBLE
SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT PRINCETON AT ABOUT 750 PM.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE MOVING ACROSS ISANTI AND WRIGHT COUNTIES OF CENTRAL AND EAST
CENTRAL	 MINNESOTA BETWEEN 750 PM AND 830 PM.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...SEEK SAFE SHELTER AND IF POSSIBLE
RELAY REPORTS OF THE WEATHER TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS.
KRAFT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMeeker30 min
Aug 29, 8:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWright56 min
Aug 29, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSherburne30 min
Aug 29, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Chisago, Washington58 min
Aug 29, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa39 min
Aug 29, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Chisago, Isanti52 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.