Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 2, 1988Morrison County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1988, 12:43 AM CDT for Morrison County, Minnesota. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 2, 1988, 12:43 AM CDT (05:43 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1988, 1:30 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Morrison 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 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 139 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1988-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 895 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1988-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
895 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTC 020550
SVRSTC
MNC097-020630-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
1243 AM CDT TUE AUG 2 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
CENTRAL MINNESOTA:

                  MORRISON

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF

SWANVILLE...FLENBURG...LITLE FALLS ...RANDALL..FORT RIPLEY AND CAMP
RIPLEY.

AT 1240 AM CDT RADAR WAS SHOWING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR SWANVILLE
IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST MORRISON COUNTY...35 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST CLOUD
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 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.

NISTLER

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, Aug 1, 6:50 PM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
648 PM CDT MON AUG 1 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MINNESOTA...ALONG
   WITH EXTREME NORTHWEST WISCONSIN AND ADJACENT AREAS OF LAKE SUPERIOR
   UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

AT 630 PM CDT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN A
LINE EASTWARD FROM FARGO..NORTH DAKOTA..THROUGH DETROIT LAKES..TO PEQUOT
LAKES IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA..TO MOOSE LAKE..THEN EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF
DULUTH NEAR BRULE IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN.

THIS AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED ABOUT 30 MILES TO
EITHER SIDE OF THE ABOVE DENOTED LINE.

DETROIT LAKES REPORTED HEAVY RAIN..PEA SIZE HAIL..AND BRIEF WIND GUSTS
IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES AN HOUR...AS ONE THUNDERSTORM RUMBLED THROUGH THAT
AREA.
.
HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE GUSTY WINDS WERE NOTED BETWEEN SANDSTONE AND
MOOSE LAKE IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA..AND NEAR AITKIN..NORTH OF
MILLE LACS LAKE.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
SJC
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 11:19 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
1110 PM CDT MON AUG 1 1988

...HEAVY RAINFALL AND PEA SIZED HAIL WITH STRONG WINDS IN
   NORTHERN TODD COUNTY...

AT 1106 PM CDT THE TODD COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT REPORTED PEA
SIZED HAIL...HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG WINDS IN NORTHERN TODD
COUNTY AROUND BROWERVILLE AND CLARISSA...25 MILES NORTHEAST OF
ALEXANDRIA.  RADAR AT 1108 PM CDT WAS SHOWING AND AREA OF
THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHERN TODD COUNTY WHICH WAS MOVING VERY
SLOWLY SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH. PERSON IN TODD COUNTY INCLUDING THE
 CITIES OF LONG PRAIRIE...BROWERVILLE...CLARISSA...EAGLE BEND AND
HEWITT SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY
RAINFALL AND SMALL HAIL UNTIL 1 AM TUESDAY MORNING.

NISTLER
                                                                   Z

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 12:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXTodd50 min
Aug 2, 3:08 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXCarver, Hennepin52 min
Aug 2, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSherburne30 min
Aug 2, 3:32 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXAnoka, Hennepin28 min
Aug 2, 3:49 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXAnoka, Ramsey, Washington41 min
Aug 2, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWashington15 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.