Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 30, 1991Grand Forks County, North Dakota; Polk County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1991, 2:41 PM CDT for Grand Forks County, North Dakota; Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 30, 1991, 2:41 PM CDT (19:41 UTC)
Expired: May 30, 1991, 3:45 PM CDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Polk County, MN, Grand Forks County, ND

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 281 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2348 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 64 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 301941
TORFAR
NDC035-MNC119-302045-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      EASTERN GRAND FORKS...THE CITY OF GRAND FORKS...

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF MINNESOTA
      EXTREME WESTERN POLK...

AT 240 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE
COLUMBIA MALL AT GRAND FORKS NORTH DAKOTA.  RADAR INDICATED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS AREA.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDIN0G.  AS A LAST RESORT...TAKE SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH...
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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, 1 hour 58 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 1:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Sargent	36 min
May 30, 1:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Dickey	30 min
May 30, 2:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Barnes, Cass	29 min

Nearby

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