Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 17, 1990Grant County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1990, 3:57 PM MDT for Grant County, North Dakota. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1990, 3:57 PM MDT (21:57 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1990, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Grant 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 85 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 1990-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 519 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 1990-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 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
519 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1572 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
7 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 KBIS 172158
SVRBIS
NDC037-172245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
357 PM MDT FRI AUG 17 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      WEST AND CENTRAL GRANT

AT 355 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEW LEIPZIG...OR 50 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THEM LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAIN MAY FLOOD ROADWAYS QUICKLY
SO AVOID DRIVING INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

THIS SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS
AND UNDERPASSES.

MCMULLEN

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, Aug 17, 12:53 PM MDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
NDZ001>018-172000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
155 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 150 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
NORTH DAKOTA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN WESTERN MORTON
COUNTY...35 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 5 TO 10 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Aug 17, 3:50 PM MDT, 7 minutes before
NDZ001>011-172300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
450 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 415 PM MDT FOR
EASTERN HETTINGER COUNTY...

AT 450 PM CDT A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING SLOWLY ACROSS
SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. THE THUNDERSTORM AREA
EXTENDED FROM 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON NEAR AMIDON TO 50 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF BISMARCK NEAR STRASBURG IN SOUTHERN EMMONS COUNTY.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN EASTERN HETTINGER AND
WESTERN GRANT COUNTIES FROM EAST OF MOTT TO NEW LEIPZIG...35 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF DICKINSON. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY NORTH AND
WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 25 MILES SOUTH OF DICKINSON
NEAR NEW ENGLAND AND 35 MILES SOUTH OF BISMARCK IN SIOUX COUNTY...NORTH
OF SELFRIDGE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN..1.SMALL
HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT
10 MILES AN HOUR.

THE SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN AND
MAY CAUSE SOME LOW LAND FLOODING AND SMALL STREAM RISES.
VAN ESS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 1:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBowman, Slope65 min
Aug 17, 3:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISHettinger31 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.