Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Bismarck, ND

June 28, 1989Billings County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 28, 1989, 3:58 PM MDT for Billings County, North Dakota. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 28, 1989, 3:58 PM MDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired
Jun 28, 1989, 4:30 PM MDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Billings County, ND

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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 205 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1989-06-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 357 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1989-06-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 156 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
357 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-405 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
163 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 KISN 282158
TORISN
NDC007-282230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
358 PM MDT WED JUN 28 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE WEST CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      NORTHEAST BILLINGS

AT 350 PM MDT A TORNADO WAS SPOTTED BY AN OBSEVER SOUTHWEST OF
FAIRFIELD NORTH DAKOTA 25 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF DICKINSON
NORTH DAKOTA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDI*NG.

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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jun 28, 2:56 PM MDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
355 PM CDT WED JUN 28 1989

AT 355 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN WESTERN NORTH
DAKOTA. THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE
HAIL WERE LOCATED IN GOLDEN VALLEY...BILLINGS AND DUNN COUNTIES OF
WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING AND
EARLY TONIGHT. PERSONS IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA SHOULD BE
ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AND TAKE COVER IF THREATENING
WEATHER IS SIGHTED.

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM FOR THE WESTERN HALF OF NORTH
DAKOTA...
VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 3:47 PM MDT, 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
447 PM CDT WED JUN 28 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 11 PM CDT
   THIS EVENING...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 11 PM
CDT THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING.

AT 440 PM WEATHER RADARS SHOWED A BAND OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
IN WESTERN NORTH DAKTA EXTENDING FROM THE BADLANDS TO THE EASTERN
END OF LAKE SAKAKAWEA.

AT 442 PM CDT...GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED MEDORA...ABOUT
35 MILES WEST OF DICKINSON.

WEATHER RADARS SHOWED ALL OF THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING NORTH
NORTHEAST 30 TO 40 MPH.
LM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 27, 6:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISEmmons, Sioux46 min
Jun 28, 3:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBillings67 min
Jun 28, 3:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMercer52 min
Jun 28, 4:09 PM MDTTornado WarningBISDunn36 min
Jun 28, 4:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean54 min
Jun 28, 5:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISDunn26 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

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.