Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 23, 1994Cass County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1994, 4:28 PM CDT for Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 23, 1994, 4:28 PM CDT (21:28 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 1994, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Cass County, ND

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 243 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: 1949 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -6 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 
WUUS1 KFAR 232128 RRA
SVRFAR
NDC017-232230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
428 PM CDT MON MAY 23 1994

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF NORTH DAKOTA
      CASS...THE CITIES OF FARGO/MOORHEAD

AT 425 PM CDT GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT PAGE IN NORTHWEST
CASS COUNTY OF EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA OR 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF
FARGO. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM INCLUDE AYR, AMENIA,CASSELTON, MAPLETON, FARGO AND
WEST FARGO.

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.

ISSUER

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 23, 3:43 PM CDT, 45 minutes before

NDZ007-008-016-026>030-038-039-048-049-051>053-MNZ001>004-
007-008-013>015-022-024-027>032-039>041-047-232135-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FARGO ND
342 PM CDT MON MAY 23 1994

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING INTO EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 325 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 30 MILES NORTHEAST
OF JAMESTOWN NORTH DAKOTA...NEAR HANNAFORD AND DAZEY.

THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTING
STRIKES...AND STRONG WIND GUSTS AS IT MOVES ACROSS EAST CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN
HOUR.  THE STORM WILL PASS THROUGH ON NEAR THE FOLLOWING CITIES OR
TOWNS BY 430 PM CDT...HANNAFORD...DAZEY...HOPE...PILLSBURY...COLGATE...
PAGE...AND BLANCHARD.

IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR ONE OF THE ABOVE LISTED CITIES OR TOWNS YOU SHOULD
BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBLITY OF THE WEATHER CONDITIONS MENTIONED AND GO
TO A SAFE PLACE UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED YOUR LOCATION.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE ALSO PUSHING INTO
EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA.  THESE STORMS EXTENDED FROM NORTH OF
JAMESTOWN TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS.  THE MOVEMENT OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WAS ALSO EAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES.

THE ATMOSPHERE OVER OUR REGION HAS BECOME VERY UNSTABLE THIS
AFTERNOON.  THE POTENTIAL FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IS HIGH.  STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO...TV OR
NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATIONS F*OR UPDATES ON THIS EVENINGS DEVELOPING
WEATHER SITUATION.
DM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Traill	60 min
May 23, 4:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Ransom, Sargent	65 min
May 23, 4:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	LaMoure	65 min
May 23, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Richland, Sargent	60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 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.