Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 3, 1993Oliver County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1993, 6:50 PM CDT for Oliver County, North Dakota. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 1993, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1993, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Oliver County, ND

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 62 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 1993-07-03Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1993-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 146 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
990 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
438 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 032351
TORBIS
NDC065-040015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
650 PM CDT SAT JUL 3 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...OLIVER COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND NEAR HANOVER...30 NORTHWEST OF
BISMARCK. THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
KM

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 3, 3:21 PM CDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before
NDZ001>003-005-032120-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
315 AM CDT SAT JUL 3 1993

...THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE OVER WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA...

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 315 PM CDT...OR 215 PM MDT THE WEATHER OFFICE IN WILLISTON NORTH
DAKOTA HAD MEASURED AROUND 2 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN THE PAST 24 HOURS.
TO THE EAST OF WILLISTON...AT LEWIS AND CLARK STATE PARK...WELL OVER
2 INCHES...AND TO THE WEST OF WILLISTON..IN TRENTON...OVER 3 INCHES OF
RAIN...AND TO THE SOUTH IN GOLVA...GOLDEN VALLEY...OVER 3 INCHES.

MORE RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECASTED FOR TONIGHT...SO PERSONS IN
LOW LYING...AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS...ALONG RIVERS AND STREAMS SHOULD
REMAIN ALERT THIS EVENING FOR RISING WATER LEVELS AND POSSIBLE FLASH
FLOOD WARNINGS.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL TV...OR RADIO STATION FOR THE LATEST
DEVELOPMENTS...AND LISTEN FOR WATCHES...WARNINGS...AND CALLS TO
ACTION.

LEWIS
Special weather statement, Jul 3, 5:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before
NDZ003>014-032315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
515 PM CDT FRI JUL 2 1993

...A TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA UNTIL 11 PM CDT...

AT 510 PM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING IN SOUTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 30 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK NORTH OF SHIELDS...AND 55 MILES SOUTH OF BISMARCK
NEAR SELFRIDGE...AND TO THE WEST NEAR GLEN ULLIN. A FUNNEL CLOUD HAS
BEEN OBSERVED FROM THE THUNDERSTORM NEAR GLEN ULLEN.

VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL AND STRONG WINDS ARE POSSIBLE FROM THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.

...THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA TONIGHT. PERSONS IN
CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA SHOULD MONITOR FOR LATER WARNINGS IN
THEIR AREA.

VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jul 3, 5:55 PM CDT, 55 minutes before
NDZ007-040000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
553 PM CDT SAT JUL 3 1993

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN
NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 11 PM CDT...

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE CITIES OF BISMARCK AND MANDAN...

AT 550 PM CDT AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO THE CITIES OF
BISMARCK AND MANDAN. THE STONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK AND WILL IN^CLUDE VERY HEAVY RAIN DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE IN THE CITIES BETWEEN 6 AND 640 PM CDT.

VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Jul 3, 6:35 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
NDZ003>014-040100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
635 PM CDT SAT JUL 3 1993

...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 630 PM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING OVER PARTS OF
CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. THE LINE WAS FROM SOUTHEAST MERCER COUNTY...
50 MILES NORTHWEST OF BISMARCK TO SOUTHERN MORTON COUNTY...25 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS OVER SOUTHEAST MERCER
AND NORTH-CENTRAL OLIVER COUNTIES...50 MILES NORTHWEST OF BISMARCK
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS COULD CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAIN WHICH COULD
CAUSE STREET FLOODING...HAIL AND STRONG WINDS.

REMEMBER...THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. PEOPLE ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IF THE WEATHER LOOKS THREATENING.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
UNTIL 11 PM CDT.

KM

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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.