Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 2, 1988Carver County, Hennepin County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1988, 3:08 PM CDT for Carver County, Hennepin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 52 min. 2 reports 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
Aug 2, 1988, 3:08 PM CDT (20:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1988, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Carver County, MN, Hennepin 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 2, 3:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Hennepin, MN
Aug 2, 3:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 71Hennepin, 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 8 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 12:00Z on 1988-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 328 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1988-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -36 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
328 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1281 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 022008
TORMSP
MNC019-053-022100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
308 PM CDT TUE AUG 2 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
          ...EASTERN CARVER...SOUTHWESTERN HENNEPIN
 
AT 305 PM CDT CARVER COUNTY POLICE REPORT A TORNADO NEAR WACONIA..15
MILES SOUTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS.
 
RADAR INDICATIONS ARE THIS STORM WILL MORE EAST NORTHEAST ACROSS
CHANHASSEN AROUND 330 PM AND EXCELCIOR NEAR LAKE MINNETONKA BETWEEN
330 AND 4 PM CDT.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILKE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, 12:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMorrison47 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

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.