Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 23, 1989Faribault County, Freeborn County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1989, 2:04 PM CDT for Faribault County, Freeborn County, Minnesota. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 1989, 2:04 PM CDT (19:04 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1989, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Faribault County, MN, Freeborn 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 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1989-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1989-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 270 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1227 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
300 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 KRST 231904
SVRRST
MNC043-047-231930-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER MN
204 PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF MINNESOTA
      SOUTHERN FARIBAULT...SOUTHERN FREEBORN

AT 150 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR BRICELYN
MN...20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALBERT LEA MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE FAIRMONT...BRICELYN AND
ALBERT LEA.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM...GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGINbG WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN...AND LIGHTNING.

BUSS

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 23, 2:00 PM CDT, 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
155 PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989

..SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BUILDING OVER EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA..

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR AREAS OF SOUTHERN
FARIBAULT AND FREEBORN COUNTIES OF EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
UNTIL 230 PM.

AT 145 PM..WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF STRONG AND SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND NORTH OF THE IOWA BORDER NEAR THE TOWN OF
BRICELYN WHICH IS ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF ALBERT LEA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREAS SHOULD BE MOVING TO A PLACE OF SAFETY
AS THE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH FROM THE WEST.

ELSEWHERE..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE FORMING OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST
WISCONSIN BETWEEN HAYWARD AND SUPERIOR.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER WIDELY SCATTERED LIGHT RAINSHOWERS PERSISTED OVER SOUTHERNZ
MINNESOTA FROM NEAR OWATONNA TO NEAR WILLMAR.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue, Rice43 min
May 23, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota31 min
May 23, 6:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault, Martin35 min

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.