Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 7, 1988, 5:22 PM CDT for Freeborn County, Minnesota. It was in force for 38 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 7, 1988, 5:22 PM CDT (22:22 UTC)
- Expired
- May 7, 1988, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Whole counties
County Freeborn 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 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 132 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2080 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 348 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 360 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 KRST 072222
SVRRST
MNC047-072300-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER MN
522 PM CDT SAT MAY 7 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY
IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF MINNESOTA
FREEBORN
THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWN OF ALBERT LEA.
AT 510 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF ALBERT LEA MINNESOTA. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH TOWARD ALBERT LEA.
IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM...GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN...AND LIGHTNING.
REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. BE ON THE LOOKOUT.
A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR PORTIONS
OF SOUTHCENTRAL MINNESOTA.
TAL@LEYWhat 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, May 7, 12:41 PM CDT, 4 hours 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN 1230 PM CDT SAT MAY 7 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR WESTERN MINNESOTA IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM CDT... AT 1226 PM...NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED OR DETECTED IN MINNESOTA. HOWEVER...CONDITIONS DO APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES OVER PARTS OF WESTERN MINNESOTA. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF WESTERN MINNESOTA UNTIL 700 PM CDT THIS EVENING. PERSONS IN THE AFFECTED AREAS SHOULD LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS CONDITIONS DEVELOPE. LIGHT RAINSHOWERS WERE FALLING OVER SCATTERED SECTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THEY WERE IN A 25 0MILE WIDE BAND FROM SPOONER TO BLACK RIVER FALLS. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. KRAFT
Special weather statement, May 7, 4:39 PM CDT, 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN 430 PM CDT SAT MAY 7 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR WESTERN MINNESOTA IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM CDT... AT 430 PM...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN...WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER WIDELY SCATTERED SECTIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST HALF OF MINNESOTA. THEY WERE MAINLY LOCATED TO THE SOUTH OF A LINE FROM FARGO TO DETROIT LAKES TO MINNEAPOLIS TO LA CROSSE. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...IN THE FARGO...ALEXANDRIA VICINITY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS T O THE NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN WESTERN MINNESOTA SHOULD CONTINUE TO LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS...AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. KRAFT
Special weather statement, May 7, 4:50 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN 445 PM CDT SAT MAY 7 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 7PM IN WESTERN MINNESOTA... ...THUNDERSTORMS FORMING IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA... AT 445 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE FORMING IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA ALONG A LINE FROM LITTLE FALLS TO ST. CLOUD AND SOUTH TOWARDS LITCHFIELD. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH ANY THESE STORMS...HOWEVER THEY WERE STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT AND MAY YET PRODUCE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG...POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS. MAKE PLANS NOW...AND BE READY TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A PLACE WHERE YOU WILL BE SAFE IF THESE STORMS SHOULD BECOME SEVERE. WDV
The office that day
Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 5:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Benton, Sherburne | 58 min |
| May 7, 5:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Stearns | 33 min |
| May 7, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Rice | 47 min |
| May 7, 6:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Dakota, Scott | 57 min |
| May 7, 6:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Ramsey, Washington | 50 min |
| May 7, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Dodge, Goodhue, Olmsted, Wabasha | 46 min |
| May 7, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Anoka, Chisago, Washington | 32 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.