Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 4, 1989Blue Earth County, Faribault County, Martin County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1989, 7:59 PM CDT for Blue Earth County, Faribault County, Martin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 1989, 7:59 PM CDT (00:59 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1989, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Blue Earth County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Martin 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 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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

Special weather statement, May 4, 6:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
640 PM CDT THU MAY 4 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OVER SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...

AT 626 PM...THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER SCATTERED SECTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...IN A 35 MILE WIDE AREA FROM ALEXANDRIA TO
MARSHALL.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR
AND SHOULD REACH THE CITIES OF WILLMAR AND REDWOOD FALLS BY 715 PM.
WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR AND SMALL HAIL MAY BE EXPECTED
WITH THESE STORMS.

MOSTLY LIGHT RAINSHOWERS CONTINUED TO FALL OVER EAST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA...AS WELL AS WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN.  THEY WERE
EAST OF A LINE FROM HINCKLEY TO MINNEAQPOLIS TO ROCHESTER MINNESOTA.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
KRAFT
Special weather statement, May 4, 7:11 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
710 PM CDT THU MAY 4 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLE OVER SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...

AT 700 PM...THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING FROM JUST WEST OF REDWOOD
FALLS TO JUST NORTH OF WINDOM...IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA.  AT 645 PM
MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN KERKOVEN IN SWIFT COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST
MINNESOTA.  IN ADDITION TO HAIL...WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR
MAY BE EXPECTED WITH vTHESE STORMS.  MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WAS
TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.  THEY SHOULD REACH
THE CITIES OF NEW ULM AND ST JAMES BY 745 PM...AND FAIRMONT BY ABOUT
800 PM.
KRAFT
Special weather statement, May 4, 7:42 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
740 PM CDT THU MAY 4 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLE OVER SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...

AT 726 PM...THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN A 40 MILE WIDE AREA FROM
ALEXANDRIA TO WILLMAR TO JACKSON IN WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MINNESOTA.   HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MILES AN HOUR MAY BE
EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.  MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WAS
TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.  THEY SHOULD REACH
THE CITIES OF NEW ULM...ST JAMES...AND FAIRMONT BY ABOUT 800 PM...
AND REACH MANKATO WINNEBAGO AND FAIRMONT BY 830 PM.

LIGHT RAINSHOWERS WERE FALLING OVER WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN IN THE
AMERY...ELLSWORTH AREA.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
KRAFT

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.