Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 8, 1989Bottineau County, Renville County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1989, 6:52 PM CDT for Bottineau County, Renville County, North Dakota. It was in force for 38 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
Jul 8, 1989, 6:52 PM CDT (23:52 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1989, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bottineau County, ND, Renville County, ND

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
Jul 8, 7:01 PM CDTHail 1.75Bottineau, ND
Jul 8, 7:25 PM CDTHail 2.5Bottineau, ND

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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 225 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 1989-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 515 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 1989-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 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
515 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-515 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1213 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 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 KBIS 082352
TORBIS
NDC075-009-090030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
652 PM CDT SAT JUL 8 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      EASTERN RENVILLE...EXTREME WESTERN BOTTINEAU

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF SHERWOOD AND MOHALL
.
.
AT 650 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS SPOTTED 1 MILE SOUTHWEST OF
SHERWOOD MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

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...STAY AWAEY FROM WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

 LEBLANG

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, Jul 8, 4:46 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
440 PM CDT SAT JUL 8 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS BEGIN TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...

  AT 430 PM CDT THE NATIONAL WEATHER RADAR IN WILLISTOM NORTH DAKOTA
INDICATED DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL BURKE COUNTY OF NORTH-
WEST NORTH DAKOTA.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BOWELLS OR 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF WILLISTON.

  THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY SINCE 415 PM CDT AND ARE
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO GROW STRONGER AS THEY MOVE TO THE EAST.

  THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKLY TO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL ALONG WITH BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS. IF YOU ARE THREATENED BY AN APPROACHING
STORM GO TO A SAFE SHELTER.

KENNEDY
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 5:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
520 PM CDT SAT JUL 8 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING...

AT 5 PM CDT A FEW THUNDERSTSORMS HAD DEVELOPED 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BOWBELLS OR 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF WILLISTON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

WEATHER SATELLITE INDICATED THAT THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A
LINE OF CLOUDS WHICH EXTENDED FROM THE CANADIAN BORDER 80 MILES
NORTHWEST OF WILLISTON TO THE SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER 70 MILES SOUTH OF
DICKINSON. THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP RAPIDLY ANYWHERE ALONG THIS LINE.

CAMPERS AND BOATERS...ESPECIALLY ON LAKE SAKAKAWEA AND LAKE METAGOSHE...
ARE URGED MONITOR THE WEATHER CLOSELY. IF A THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES SEEK
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
STRONG WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 7, 11:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman53 min
Jul 8, 12:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman58 min
Jul 8, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau62 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.