Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 2, 1989Ward County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1989, 7:43 PM CDT for Ward County, North Dakota. It was in force for 22 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 2, 1989, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Expired: Aug 2, 1989, 8:05 PM CDT
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Ward 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 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 173 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: 1585 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2220 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 27 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 030043
TORBIS
NDC101-030115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
743 PM CDT WED AUG 2 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      EXTREME SOUTHEAST WARD

AT 735 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC ABOUT 10
MILES TO THE SOUTH OF MINOT. WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM IN THAT AREA MOVING TO THE EAST 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 AWAY FROM WINDOWLS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

 JRF/0042Z

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, Aug 2, 6:01 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
600 PM CDT WED AUG 2 1989

...THUNERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 550 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SMALL AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN EMMONS COUNTY AND EXTREME
SOUTHWESTERN MCINTOSH COUNTY...OR ABOUT 60 MILES SOUTH/SOUTHEAST
OF BISMARCK. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTH/NORTHEAST
AT 25 MPH. THIS WOULD TAKE THE THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE HAGUE AND
ZEELAND AREAS BEFORE 630 PM CDT.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE
STORMS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER INDOORS IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

FORS

Special weather statement, Aug 2, 6:56 PM CDT, 47 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
655 PM CDT WED AUG 2 1989

...THUNERSTORMS CONTINUE IN EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 645 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SMALL AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST MCINTOSH COUNTY ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTH/
SOUTHWEST OF WISHEK...OR ABOUT 60 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BISMARCK.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH.
THIS WOULD TAKE THE THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE WISHEK AREA BEFORE
730 PM CDT.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND STRONG WINDS. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE
STORMS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER INDOORS IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF STREETER IN
SOUTHWEST STUTSMAN COUNTY AND JUST SOUTHWEST OF MINOT IN WARD
COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST.

FORS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 2, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Stutsman	45 min

Nearby

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