Alert archive / North Dakota / Flash Flood Warnings in 1995

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 17, 1995McLean County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this flash flood warning at Aug 17, 1995, 9:05 PM CDT for McLean County, North Dakota. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1995, 9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1995, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County McLean County, ND

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 00:00Z on 1995-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4552 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1995-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 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
4552 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1633 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
16.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 180207
FFWBIS
NDC055-180300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
905 PM CDT THU AUG 17 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...EASTERN MCLEAN COUNTY
 
AT 9 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS 43 MILES NORTH OF BISMARCK...OVER
THE TOWN OF MERCER...IN EASTERN MCLEAN COUNTY.
 
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SHOWED NO MOVEMENT SINCE 830 PM AND WILL RESULT
IN FLASH FLOODING IN THE MERCER AREA. LARGE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OVER 70
MPH WILL ALSO OCCUR.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS...DO NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
A TOR`NADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.
 
JP MARTIN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Aug 17, 7:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before
NDZ003>007-011>015-021>026-034>038-045>052-180225-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
720 PM CDT (620 PM MDT) THU AUG 17 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL AND PARTS OF EASTERN
NORTH DAKOTA UNTIL 1 AM CDT FRIDAY...

THE TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES THESE MAJOR CITIES...MINOT...DEVILS LAKE...
BISMARCK/MANDAN...AND JAMESTOWN.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.

AT 715 PM CDT...615 MOUNTAIN...THE ONLY THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTH DAKOTA
WERE IN THE FAR SOUTHCENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. THE STORMS WERE
SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK...NEAR THE SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER...AND SHOWED
LITTLE MOVEMENT.

THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP QUICKLY THIS EVENING...STAY ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER.

JP MARTIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 8:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean52 min
Aug 17, 9:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBISMcLean55 min
Aug 18, 3:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcKenzie59 min
Aug 18, 4:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISDunn48 min
Aug 18, 4:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMountrail31 min
Aug 18, 5:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISWard43 min
Aug 18, 6:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcHenry42 min
Aug 18, 6:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau, Rolette29 min
Aug 18, 7:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISPierce, Rolette38 min
Aug 18, 8:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISRamsey44 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Dakota, 1995Every flash flood warning in 1995

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.