Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 3, 1990Douglas County, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 1990, 4:33 PM CDT for Douglas County, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 3, 1990, 4:33 PM CDT (21:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1990, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Douglas County, MN, Otter Tail 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 213 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 1990-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1106 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 1990-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
1106 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 032133
SVRFAR
MNC041-111-032230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
433 PM CDT FRI AUG 3 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE WEST CENTRAL PART OF MINNESOTA
      DOUGLAS...EASTERN OTTER TAIL...THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA

AT 425 PM CDT...AN OFF DUTY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEE
REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FERGUS FALLS
MINNESOTA.  3/4 INCH HAIL...VERY STRONG WINDS WITH NUMEROUS TREES
DOWN WERE REPORTED.  RADAR INDICATES DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS FROM
25 MILES SOUTH OF DETROIT LAKES...TO 30 MILES WEST OF ALEXANDRIA...
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

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 THE LOWES,T FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.

ARMSTRONG

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 3, 2:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
NDZ016-017-018-MNZ006-007-010-011- 032030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
240 PM CDT FRI AUG 3 1990

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS RAPIDLY DEVELOPED OVER NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...
AT 240 PM CDT...SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD RAPIDLY DEVELOPED OVER
NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A LINE FROM
20 MILES EAST OF THIEF RIVER FALLS TO 20 MILES WEST OF DETROIT LAKES.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO
THE MAHNOMEN...LAKE PARK AND DETROIT LAKES AREA. PERSONS AT THE WE FEST
AT SOO PASS RANCH NEAR DETROIT LAKES COULD ALSO BE AFFECTED BY THESE
STORMS WHICH COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND
SOME SMALL HAIL.

ANOTHER STORNG THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOP ALONG THE NORTH/SOUTH DAKOTA
BORDER SOUTH OF WAHPETON. THIS STORM WAS ALSO MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES
AND HOUR AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTH END OF LAKE TRAVERSE BY 330 PM
CDT.
.
OTHER SHOWERS WERE OCCURRING OVER EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NORTH
DAKOTA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

PLEASE STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS AND NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATEST INFORMATION ON THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
VOELKER
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 3:43 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
NDZ016-017-018-MNZ006-007-010-011- 032130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
340 PM CDT FRI AUG 3 1990

AT 330 PM CDT...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER NORTHWEST
AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND EXTREME NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A 20 MILE WIDE LINE FROM THE RED LAKES IN
NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THROUGH THE DETROIT LAKES AREA AND ON TO LAKE
LAKE TRAVERSE IN THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF SOUTH DAKOTA.

STRONGEST STORMS WERE JUST WEST OF FERGUS FALLS...20 MILES NORTH AND
10 MILES SOUTH OF DETROIT LAKES MINNESOTA. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FERGUS FALLS...
LAKE TRAVERSE...DETROIT LAKES...ITASCA STATE PARK AND BEMIDJI AREAS BY
430 PM CDT.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL
HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. ALL PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS
SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND PREPARED
TO SEEK SHELTER IF NECESSARY. STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO AND TV
FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THESE STORMS.
VOELKER

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.