Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 5, 1988Cavalier County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1988, 6:03 PM CDT for Cavalier County, North Dakota. It was in force for 57 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 5, 1988, 6:03 PM CDT (23:03 UTC)
Expired: Jul 5, 1988, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Cavalier 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 5, 6:17 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Cavalier, 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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 278 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: 1905 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -306 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1210 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 052303
TORFAR
NDC019-060000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
603 PM CDT TUE JUL 5 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      CAVALIER

AT 557 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 10 MILES
NORTHEAST OF LANGDON NORTH DAKOTA...50 MILES NORTHEAST OF DEVILS
LAKE IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...BY AN AIR FORCE OBSERVER.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN A CENTRAL INTERIOR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...
PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND PROTECT YOUR HEAD.
AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED
BUILDING.

THIS IS A DANGER1OUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!

TS/DMR

What 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

Local storm report, Jul 5, 5:51 PM CDT, 12 minutes before

STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
545 PM CDT TUE JUL 5 1988

TIME      EVENT
356 PM    WEATHER OBSERVER FROM CAVALIER 7NW, NORTH DAKOTA REPORTED
          1/2 TO 1 INCH HAIL.

405 PM    PUBLIC REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD JUST WEST OF CAVALIER NORTH
          DAKOTA.

440 PM    WEATHER OBSERVER FROM CAVALIER 7NW, NORTH DAKOTA REPORTED
          1.15 INCHES OF RAIN AND TREE DAMAGE FROM STRONG WIND.
SPIES

The office that day

Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 5, 4:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Pembina	55 min
Jul 5, 5:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Nelson, Walsh	57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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.