Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 7, 1994Steele County, Waseca County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 7, 1994, 8:28 PM CDT for Steele County, Waseca County, Minnesota. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 7, 1994, 8:28 PM CDT (01:28 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 1994, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Steele County, MN, Waseca County, MN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 7, 8:30 PM CDTTornado F1Waterville, MNA tornado touched down on a farmsted on County Road 14 about 5 miles southwest of Waterville. It knocked down some trees, and damaged a shed, 2 silos, a cornfield, and an outdoor pool.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1994-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2071 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1994-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2071 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
998 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRST 080126
TORRST
MNC147-161-080200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER MN
828 PM CDT SUN AUG 7 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROCHESTER MN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...STEELE COUNTY...WESTERN WASECA COUNTY
 
THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF WASECA AND OWATONNA.
 
AT 820PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NORTH OF WASECA NEAR
WATERVILLE HEADING SOUTH AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH
THE CITY OF WASECA BY 845 PM. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED
WITH THIS STORM AT 823 PM ON THE WASECA AND RICE COUNTY LINE.
 
 
 
HEAD FOR THE BASEMENT NOW!  DON'T GO OUTSIDE TO LOOK FOR THE
TORNADO...IT COULD BE BEARING DOWN ON YOUR LOCATION.  GET UNDER
SOME STURDY FURNITURE...OR UNDERNEATH A STAIRWAY TO AVOID
WIND BLOWN DEBRIS.  MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 7:33 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, Nicollet27 min
Aug 7, 8:10 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXBlue Earth, Faribault35 min
Aug 7, 8:51 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXFaribault39 min
Aug 7, 9:36 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXFaribault24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.