Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1988, 7:47 PM CDT for Dickey County, Ransom County, Sargent County, North Dakota. It was in force for 58 min. 3 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
- Jul 12, 1988, 7:47 PM CDT (00:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 12, 1988, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Dickey County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Sargent County, ND
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 12, 8:25 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Ransom, ND | |
| Jul 12, 8:30 PM CDT | Hail 2 | Dickey, ND | |
| Jul 12, 8:40 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Sargent, ND |
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
Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 152 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
- 2861 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1651 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 185 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 447 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.2
- Supercell composite
- 18.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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 12, 5:37 PM CDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND 535 PM CDT TUE JUL 12 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA TIL 11PM CDT... AT 529 PM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...20 MILES WEST OF JAMESTOWN...AND ALSO 30 MILES SOUTH OF DEVILS LAKE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL LIKELY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES. OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...WHILE SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSHOWERS LINGERED OVER PARTS OF NORTHWEST MINNESOTA AND THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF NORTH DAKOTA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 6:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND 635 PM CDT TUE JUL 12 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CDT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA... AT 625 PM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING INTO EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA. THESE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MAINLY OVER GRIGGS AND BARNES COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA FROM NEAR VALLEY CITY NORTHWARD THROUGH THE HANNAFORD...COOPERSTOWN...MC VILLE AND ANETA AREAS. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND SHOULD MOVE INTO WESTERN GRAND FORKS...EASTERN NELSON AND STEELE COUNTIES BETWEEN 7PM AND 730 PM. SO FAR...THESE INTENSE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS THEY PASS THROUGH. OTHER SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA MAINLY OVER A 75 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 30 MILES NORTH OF DEVILS LAKE TO NEAR THE NORTH DAKOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA STATE LINE SOUTH OF ELLENDALE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND PERSON OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA SHOULD BE ALERT FORN RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES. SPIES
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 12, 7:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cass, Steele, Traill | 55 min |
| Jul 12, 7:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | LaMoure | 58 min |
| Jul 12, 8:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cass, Traill | 57 min |
| Jul 12, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | LaMoure | 60 min |
| Jul 12, 8:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Ransom, Richland, Sargent | 58 min |
| Jul 12, 9:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Cass | 60 min |
| Jul 12, 10:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Cass | 60 min |
| Jul 12, 10:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Richland | 55 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.