Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1988, 10:44 PM CDT for Rolette County, North Dakota. It was in force for 31 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 16, 1988, 10:44 PM CDT (03:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1988, 11:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rolette County, ND
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
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 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
- 1692 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2078 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 22 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -1.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBIS 170344
TORBIS
NDC079-170415-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1044 PM CDT TUE AUG 16 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY
IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
ROLETTE
AT 1041 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED JUST SOUTH OF THE TOWN
OF ROLETTE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
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...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.
RSLWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 16, 8:17 PM CDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 815 PM CDT TUE AUG 16 1988 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER... AT 810 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER NEAR SHERWOOD NORTH DAKOTA...OR 45 MILES NORTH OF MINOT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS OF 50 MPH... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. TOWNS NEAR THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERESTORMS INCLUDE SHERWOOD...MOHALL...ANTLER...AND WESTHOPE. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE SHELTER INDOORS IMMEDIATELY. LEBLANG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 8:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Bottineau | 41 min |
| Aug 16, 8:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Renville | 28 min |
| Aug 16, 9:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Bottineau, McHenry | 46 min |
| Aug 16, 9:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Bottineau, Rolette | 39 min |
| Aug 16, 10:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Pierce, Rolette | 47 min |
| Aug 16, 11:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Towner | 43 min |
| Aug 16, 11:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Ramsey, Towner | 29 min |
| Aug 16, 11:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Ramsey | 53 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988
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.