Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 29, 1988, 6:05 PM CDT for Meeker County, Minnesota. It was in force for 55 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 29, 1988, 6:05 PM CDT (23:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 29, 1988, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Meeker 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 29, 6:25 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Meeker, 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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 79 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
- 1062 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -167 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1247 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 67 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 74 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KSTC 292306
SVRSTC
MNC093-300000-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
605PM CDT FRI JUL 29 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
CENTRAL MINNESOTA:
MEEKER
INCLUDING THE CITY OF
LITCHFIELD
AT 605PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 12 MILES WEST OF
LITCHFIELD MINNESOTA...35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ST. CLOUD. THE STORM WAS
MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE
FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING. BOATERS SHOULD MOVE <OFF LAKES TO NEARBY SHELTER. PEOPLE
OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE STRONG BUILDINGS BUT STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.
WDV/JFWhat 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 29, 4:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN 445 PM CDT FRI JUL 29 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT... FOR SOUTHWEST THROUGH NORTHEAST MINNESOTA...ALONG WITH NORTHWEST WISCONSIN... AT 430 PM CDT...A BAND OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED ACROSS NORTHEAST MINNESOTA SINCE 330 PM CDT. THIS NARROW BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM 5 MILES WEST OF CLOQUET..TO JUST NORTHEAST OF ELY..IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA. POSSIBLY HEAVY RAIN WAS FALLING NEAR THE TOWN OF CROMWELL. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. ANOTHER SMALL AREA OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS HAD ALSO DEVELOPED ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF MINNESOTA..FROM 5 MILES NORTH OF MARSHALL..TO 5 MILES EAST OF WILLMAR. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ALONG AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. AT 3 PM CDT..THIS FRONTAL SYSTEM EXTENDED FROM NEAR ELY IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA..ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA..TO SOUTH OF ALEXANDRIA..THEN INTO WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA..SEEK SHELTER. SJC
Special weather statement, Jul 29, 5:16 PM CDT, 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN 515 PM CDT FRI JUL 29 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA UNTIL 10PM CDT... NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON BUT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT. AT 510 PM CDT A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL WAS LOCATED IN BENTON COUNTY 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF FOLEY MINNESOTA OR 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF ST. CLOUD. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. A SIGNIFICANT DANGER WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM IS LIGHTNING. BOATERS SHOULD GET OFF THE LAKE...GOLFERS HEAD TO THE CLUB HOUSE...BALL PLAYERS MOVE OFF THE DIAMONDS...ANY ONE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE UNTIL THE STORM PASSES OUT OF THE AREA. WDV
Special weather statement, Jul 29, 5:51 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN 549 PM CDT FRI JUL 29 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT... FOR SOUTHWEST THROUGH NORTHEAST MINNESOTA...ALONG WITH NORTHWEST WISCONSIN... AT 530 PM CDT...AN AREA OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED ACROSS NORTHEAST..EAST CENTRAL..CENTRAL..AND SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAD INCREASED..BOTH IN INTENSITY AND IN AREAL COVERAGE SINCE 430 PM. THIS AREA WAS LOCATED 20 MILES TO EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM THE DULUTH- TWO HARBORS AREA..TO MCGRATH..THEN THROUGH THE TOWNS OF MORA AND FOLEY.. THROUGH ST CLOUD..TO SOUTH OF WILLMAR..THEN STRETCHED SOUTH WEST TO JUST NORTH OF MARSHALL. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. . ONE OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED 65 MPH WIND GUSTS AS IT PASSED THROUGH THE TOWN OF CLOQUET..IN NORTHEAST MINNESOTA..JUST SOUTHWEST OF DULUTH. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS DEPOSITING MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN IN THE FOLEY AND ST CLOUD AREA..ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS..HEAVY RAIN..AND HAIL. LIGHTNING IS ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH THESE THUNDERST ORMS AS THEY CONTINUE THEIR PASSAGE EASTWARD ACROSS MINNESOTA. SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA..TAKE COVER. SJC
The office that day
Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 5:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Benton, Sherburne | 60 min |
| Jul 29, 5:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Mille Lacs | 60 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.