Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 54, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 11, 1988Sherburne County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 11, 1988, 3:20 PM CDT for Sherburne County, Minnesota. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 11, 1988, 3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)
Expired: Aug 11, 1988, 4:15 PM CDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

County Sherburne 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, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 67 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2519 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTC 112025
SVRSTC
MNC141-112115-

BULLETIN-IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
320 PM CDT THU AUG 11 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY  OF

CENTRAL  MINNESOTA...SHERBURNE INCLUDING THE CITIES OF BECKER...BIG 
LAKE...ELK RIVER...CLEAR LAKE AND ZIMMERMAN.

AT 318 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTHEAST 
OF ST. CLOUD MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN...SO BE
ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF 0SAFETY...A
BASEMENT...OR A REINFORCED ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR...LEAVE MOBILE
HOMES.  BE READY TO ACT IMMEDIATELY.

FRASER/YOUNG

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

Local storm report, Aug 11, 1:20 PM CDT, 2 hours before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST. CLOUD MN
120 PM CDT THU AUG 11 1988

...ATTN SELS...PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT FROM AUG 11 1988.

1215 PM CDT   LIGHTNING STRIKE FATALITY.  ONE PERSON IN AI BOAT
              ON SAUK LAKE...3 MILES NORTH OF SAUK CENTRE MINNESOTA..
              38 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF ST. CLOUD.  RELAYED REPORT
              FROM STEARNS COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.

FRASER

Special weather statement, Aug 11, 2:07 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
200 PM CDT THU AUG 11 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

AT 200 PM CDT A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM LONG
PRAIRIE...25 MILES NORTHEAST OF ALEXANDRIA...TO JUST NORTHWEST OF THE
TWIN CITIES. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 20 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF LONG PRAIRIE AND ANOTHER STRONG STORM ABOUT 10 MILES
WEST OF ST CLOUD.

AT 155 PM CDT THE LONG PRAIRIE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED PEA SIZE
HAIL NEARLY COVERING THE GROUND ALONG WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.
PERSONS IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA CAN EXPECT SMALL HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS THESE STORMS MOVE EAST AT 15 MPH.

YOUNG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 11, 2:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs, Sherburne	48 min
Aug 11, 3:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Isanti	46 min
Aug 11, 4:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Isanti	41 min
Aug 11, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Ramsey, Washington	59 min
Aug 11, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs, Morrison	60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1988 Every 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.