Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 22, 1994Clay County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 22, 1994, 9:18 PM CDT for Clay County, Minnesota. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 22, 1994, 9:18 PM CDT (02:18 UTC)
Expired: May 22, 1994, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Clay County, MN

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 266 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: 76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -132 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2489 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 230218 RRA
SVRFAR
MNC027-230315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
918 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 1994

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF MINNESOTA
      CLAY

AT 908 PM CDT A 60 MILE AN HOUR WIND GUST WAS RECORDED AT HECTOR
FIELD IN FARGO NORTH DAKOTA.  THE THUNDERSTORM WHICH PRODUCED THE
STRONG WIND WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AND WILL REACH THE
HITTERDAL...HAWLEY...AND FELTON AREAS BY 935 PM CDT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...PREPARE FOR
DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE
SHOULD MOVE TO SHELTER...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.  ONCE
INSIDE...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

MORIN

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 22, 8:50 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

NDZ007-008-016-026>030-038-039-048-049-051>053-MNZ001>004-
007-008-013>015-022-024-027>032-039>041-047-230245-

SPICIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
850 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 1994

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING UNTIL 900 PM FOR SOUTHERN TRAILL
   COUNTY OF NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 825 PM CDT...A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN...WERE OVER MOST OF NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF FARGO
NORTH DAKOTA...NEAR THE TOWNS OF BLANCHARD...HUNTER AND HILLSBORO.

IN ADDITION TO VERY HEAVY RAIN THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE HAIL...STRONG
WIND GUST AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTING STRIKES.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.  THE STORMS WILL PASS
THROUGH OR NEAR HENDRUM...PERLEY...AND HALSTAD MINNESOTA BY 930 PM CDT.
.
IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR ONE OF THE TOWNS OR CITIES MENTIONED YOU SHOULD
LOOK OUT FOR THE ABOVE WEATHER CONDITIONS...AND GO TO A SAFE PLACE
UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED YOUR LOCATION.
DM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 23, 4:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Becker, Clay, Norman	65 min
May 23, 5:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Clay	56 min
May 23, 5:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Otter Tail, Wilkin	65 min
May 23, 6:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Beltrami, Clearwater	31 min
May 23, 6:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Hubbard	49 min
May 23, 6:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Otter Tail	69 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1994 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1994

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.