Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 51, NWS La Crosse, WI

October 17, 1996Mower County, Minnesota; Mitchell County, Iowa

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 17, 1996, 1:48 AM CDT for Mower County, Minnesota; Mitchell County, Iowa. It was in force for 42 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
Oct 17, 1996, 1:48 AM CDT (06:48 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1996, 2:30 AM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mitchell County, IA, Mower County, MN

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:52 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 17, 1:55 AM CDTHail 0.75Osage, IA

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 163 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 1996-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 809 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 00:00Z on 1996-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
809 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1117 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 2:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXBuffalo, Trempealeau42 min
Oct 17, 2:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXMower, Olmsted37 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1996Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.