Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 59, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 31, 1991Carver County, McLeod County, Wright County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1991, 6:47 AM CDT for Carver County, McLeod County, Wright County, Minnesota. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1991, 6:47 AM CDT (11:47 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1991, 7:30 AM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Carver County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Wright County, MN

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 34 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 00:00Z on 1991-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 802 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1991-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 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
802 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 311147
SVRMSP
MNC085-171-019-311230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
647 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING     EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION                        S...
 
IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...EASTERN MCLEOD COUNTY...SOUTHERN WRIGHT COUNTY
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...NORTHERN CARVER COUNTY
 
AT 642 AM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF
LESTER PRAIRIE...OR ABOUT 40 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS.
 
HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
 
MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL AFFECT
THE CITIES OF LESTER PRAIRIE...WINSTED...WATERTOWN...AND DELANO
BY 730 AM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PcROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
TDK

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 31, 6:37 AM CDT, 10 minutes before
MNZ014-015-016-018-311245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
637 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 1991

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS ROLL INTO CENTRAL
MINNESOTA...

WEATHER RADAR AT 625 AM SHOWED A CLUSTER OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
ABOUT 50 MILES WEST OF THE TWIN CITIES IN THE COKATO...HUTCHINSON..
AND GLENCOE AREA.  AT AROUND 615 AM HAIL...SOME OF IT NEAR DIME
SIZE..WAS REPORTED AT CEDAR MILLS IN SOUTHERN MEEKER COUNTY.  THIS IS
ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF LITCHFIELD.  PERSONS IN WRIGHT AND MCLEOD
AND WESTERN CARVER COUNTIES SHOUDL BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF VERY
HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND SOME HAIL FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN 625 AND
730AM.

ANOTHER CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF THE
TWIN CITIES IN THE ST PETER...NICOLETT...WATERVILLE AREA.  THESE
THUNDERSTORNS WILL BE AFFECTING THE COUTIES OF NICOLLETT..LE SEUER..AND
SOUTEHRN SCOTT BETWEEN 625 AND 730 AM.

ALL TSHUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
PAULSON
Special weather statement, May 31, 6:43 AM CDT, 4 minutes before
MNZ014-311245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MINNESOTA
643 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

AT 640 AM THUNDERSTORMS SOME^ WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLE
SMALL HAIL WERE NEAR ST CLOUD AND THEN NORTHWEST TO ALEXANDRIA.
THE STRONGEST STORM WAS NEAR ALBANY...15 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST CLOUD.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 8:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue19 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.