Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 4, 1994Rice County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1994, 4:20 PM CDT for Rice County, Minnesota. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 1994, 4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1994, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Rice County, MN

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 60 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 12:00Z on 1994-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1994-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 102 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
864 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 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 KRST 042125
TORRST
MNC131-042145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER MN
420 PM CDT WED MAY 4 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROCHESTER MN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN RICE COUNTY
 
AT 415 PM...THE NORTHFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE
GROUND IN THE SOUTHEAST PORTION OF THE CITY OF NORTHFIELD. THE STORM
RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING TO JUST SOUTH OF EAST AT 20
MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE CITIES OF NORTHFIELD AND DENNISON...YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS FIND SHELTER NOW.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A BASEMENT AND GET UNDER SOME STURDY
FURNITURE OR A WORKBENCH.  IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...GO TO A
SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.
 
 
TESKE
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 3:09 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXMartin36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.