Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 30, 1991Dickey County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1991, 1:30 PM CDT for Dickey County, North Dakota. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 1991, 1:30 PM CDT (18:30 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1991, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Dickey County, ND

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 135 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1991-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1991-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-251 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1055 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
240 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 KFAR 301830
TORFAR
NDC021-301900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
130 PM CDT THU MAY 30 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      EASTERN DICKEY

AT 127 PM CDT...STATE RADIO REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 60
MILES SOUTHEAST OF JAMESTOWN NORTH DAKOTA...OR 2 MILES EAST OF
OAKES...MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...TAKE SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

ARMSTRONG

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, May 30, 12:43 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
NDZ015-016-017-018-MNZ001-006-301900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
1245 PM CDT THU MAY 30 1991

AT 1230 PM CDT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW STRONG...CONTINUED TO
DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL
MINNESOTA.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE 25 MILES SOUTH OF FARGO
NEAR HICKSON...JUST NORTHEAST OF FARGO BETWEEN DILWORTH AND
GEORGETOWN...AND IN THE FORMAN AREA 60 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FARGO.

AT 1145 AM CDT PEA SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED IN THE COLFAX AREA OF
SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR HICKSON WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FARGO/
MOORHEAD AREA BETWEEN 100 PM AND 200 PM CDT...THE STORM NEAR FORMAN
WILL MOVE INTO THE MILNOR AND MC LEOD AREAS BY 200 PM CDT...AND
THE STORM JUST NORTHEAST OF FARGO WILL AFFECT THE GEORGETOWN AND
FELTON AREAS.  HAIL..DEADLY LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINS
WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN
HOUR.

CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE CONTINUED INTENSIFICATION OF THESE
STRONG STORMS RIGHT IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY.  IF YOU LIVE IN THE
PROJECTED PATH OF THESE STORMS YOU SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER mCONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON.
EWENS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 1:24 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFSargent36 min
May 30, 2:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Cass29 min
May 30, 2:41 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFGrand Forks64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.