Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 23, 1987Sherburne County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1987, 5:15 PM CDT for Sherburne County, Minnesota. It was in force for 60 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: Jul 23, 1987, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired: Jul 23, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

County Sherburne 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
Jul 23, 6:05 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Sherburne, 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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 67 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: 575 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -138 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1013 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTC 232224
SVRSTC
MNC141-232315-           

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
515 PM CDT THU JUL 23 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

CENTRAL MINNESOTA...EASTERN SHERBURNE INCLUDING THE CITIES OF
BECKER...BIG LAKE...ZIMMERMAN...AND ELK RIVER.

AT 510 PM RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN  
SOUTHERN SHERBURNE COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES PER HOUR.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE STRONG DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE
HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES. ALSO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN
AND OCCASIONALLY DO PROD	UCE 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/TRIPLETT

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, Jul 23, 11:42 AM CDT, 5 hours 33 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
1142 AM CDT THU JUL 23 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL STEARNS COUNTY...

AT 1140 RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR ALBANY IN CENTRAL
STEARNS COUNTY OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA. ALBANY IS 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF
ST CLOUD.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED PEA SIZE HAIL AND SOME HAIL UP TO
1/2 INCH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED...HOWEVER PERSONS IN THE PATH OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN EXPECT SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN.

THESE STORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE ST CLOUD AREA BETWEEN 12 NOON CDT
AND 1 PM CDT

YOUNG

Special weather statement, Jul 23, 12:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 15 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
1155 AM CDT THU JUL 23 1987

    ..STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER CENTRAL MINNESOTA..

AT 1140 AM CDT..AN ISOLATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS OCCURRING OVER
CENTRAL MINNESOTA TO THE WEST OF ST CLOUD NEAR THE TOWN OF ALBANY IN
NORTHERN STEARNS COUNTY.

THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL..STRONG GUSTY WINDS ALONG
WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AS IT MOVES EAST
AT ABOUT 35 MILES AN HOUR TOWARD THE ST CLOUD AREA.

THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS PART OF AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
REMAINING ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AS WELL AS
NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF WISCONSIN FROM NEAR ALEXANDRIA..TO ST CLOUD AND
MONTICELLO..EAST TOWARD HAYWARD WISCONSIN.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
SWANBERG

Local storm report, Jul 23, 3:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD, MN
335 PM CDT THU JUL 23 1987

...ATTN SELS...

SEVERE WEATHER REPORT FROM 23 JUL 1987

1218 PM CDT 1/2 INCH HAIL AT FOLEY MINNESOTA...10 MILES NORTHEAST OF
              ST. CLOUD.
1221 PM CDT 3/4 TO 1 INCH HAIL IN NOTHERN SECTIONS OF ST. CLOUD.
1230 PM CDT LARGE TREES DOWN...POWER POLES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN
            SAUK RAPIDS MINNESOTA...A NORTHERN SUBURB OF ST. CLOUD.

FRASER

Special weather statement, Jul 23, 5:13 PM CDT, 2 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST. CLOUD MN
505 PM CDT THU JUL 23 1987

...TORNADO WATCH CENTRAL MINNESOTA UNTIL 900 PM CDT...

RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN
SOUTHERN SHERBURNE COUNTY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND SMALL HAIL.

PEOPLE IN SOUTHERN SHERBURNE COUNTY AND ESPECIALLY NEAR THE CITIES
OF BECKER... BIG LAKE AND ELK RIVER SHOULD BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A
PLACE OF SAFETY IF SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPES.

FRASER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 23, 12:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Benton, Sherburne, Stearns	60 min
Jul 23, 12:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs	60 min
Jul 23, 1:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Isanti	49 min
Jul 23, 2:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Washington	52 min
Jul 23, 5:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Wright	42 min
Jul 23, 6:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Hennepin, Wright	59 min
Jul 23, 6:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Anoka, Hennepin	65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1987 Every 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.