Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 12, 1992Burleigh County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 1992, 4:38 PM CDT for Burleigh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 1992, 4:38 PM CDT (21:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1992, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Burleigh County, ND

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 29 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 1992-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1992-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -24 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 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 122138
TORBIS
NDC015-122215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
438 PM CDT SUN JUL 12 1992

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      WESTERN BURLEIGH

AT 435 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS OVER THE NORTH PART OF BISMARCK.
THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS NEARLY STATIONARY.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

 RSL

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, Jul 12, 12:11 PM CDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1205 PM CDT SUN JUL 12 1985

...COLD AIR FUNNELS REPORTED OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 1050 AM MDT A COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC 10
MILES NORTH OF BOWMAN. ANOTHER FUNNEL WAS REPORTED 5 MINUTES LATER
AT AMIDON...25 MILES NORTH OF BOWMAN.

COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
THEY ARE FORMED BY THUNDERSTORMS AND RAIN SHOWERS WHEN UNIQUE
METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS ARE MET. MILD UNSTABLE AIR IN THE LOWER
ATMOSPHERE IS CAPPED BY COOL UNSTABLE AIR ALOFT. AS THE SHOWER DEVELOPS
UP AND DOWN DRAFTS ARE FORMED. IF THE RIGHT CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT THE
MOVING DRAFTS OF AIR BEGIN TO ROTATE AND A VISIBLE FUNNEL IS FORMED.

COLD AIR FUNNELS GENERALLY DO NOT REACH THE EARTH`S SURFACE AND ARE
USUALLY SHORT LIVED. THEY HAVE..HOWEVER..ON OCCASIONS TOUCHED THE GROUND
AND CAUSED DAMAGE. BECAUSE OF THIS POSSIBILITY YOU SHOULD SEEK SHELTER
WHEN COLD AIR FUNNELS ARE OBSERVED.

CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLD AIR FUNNELS
UNTIL LATE THIS AFTERNOON. IF YOU LIVE IN THE COUNTIES OF BOWMAN...
SLOPE...HETTINGER AND ADAMS COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST NORTH D>AKOTA YOU
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF COLD AIR FUNNELS AND
BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER.

LM
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 1:36 PM CDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
135 PM CDT SUN JUL 12 1985

...COLD AIR FUNNEL REPORTED OVER WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 130 PM CDT A COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC
IN THE CHARLSON VICINITY OVER NORTHEAST MCKENZIE COUNTY.

COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
THEY ARE FORMED BY THUNDERSTORMS OR RAIN SHOWERS WHEN UNIQUE
METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS ARE MET. MILD UNSTABLE AIR IN THE LOWER
ATMOSPHERE IS CAPPED BY COOL UNSTABLE AIR ALOFT. AS THE SHOWER DEVELOPS
UP AND DOWN DRAFTS ARE FORMED. IF THE RIGHT CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT THE
MOVING DRAFTS OF AIR BEGIN TO ROTATE AND A VISIBLE FUNNEL IS FORMED.

COLD AIR FUNNELS GENERALLY DO NOT REACH THE EARTH`S SURFACE AND ARE
USUALLY SHORT LIVED. THEY HAVE..HOWEVER..ON OCCASIONS TOUCHED THE GROUND
AND CAUSED DAMAGE. BECAUSE OF THIS POSSIBILITY YOU SHOULD SEEK SHELTER
WHEN COLD AIR FUNNELS ARE OBSERVED.

CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLD AIR FUNNELS
UNTIL LATE THIS AFTERNOON. IF YOU LIVE IN MCKENZIE...WILLIAMS...DUNN...
GOLDEN VALLEY OR BILLINGS COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA  YOU
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF COLD AIJR FUNNELS AND
BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER.

KENNEDY

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.