Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 75, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 23, 1987Wright County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1987, 5:33 PM CDT for Wright County, Minnesota. It was in force for 42 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 23, 1987, 5:33 PM CDT (22:33 UTC)
Expired: Jul 23, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

County Wright County, MN

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 46 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 KMSP 232233
SVRMSP
MNC171-232315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
533 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 
COUNTY OF

CENTRAL MINNESOTA...
 WRIGHT


AT 530 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WS INDICATED BY RADAR JUST
NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF BUFFALO IN WRIGHT COUNTY OF CENTRAL
MINNESOTA OR ABOUT 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS
MINNESOTA. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST
AT 30 MPH.

WITH ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT EXPECTED ACROSS WESTERN
WRIGHT COUNTY DONT BE FOOLED BY LOOKING FOR ALL THE SEVERE WEATHER
TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ONE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
CITIES AFFECTED BY 615 PM CDT INCLUDE BUFFALO...MONTROSE...
MAPLE LAKE.

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

NAISTAT

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 51 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 33 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 55 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, 20 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, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Sherburne	60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.