Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 149, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 21, 1996Wells County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 1996, 2:51 AM CDT for Wells County, North Dakota. It was in force for 69 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 21, 1996, 2:51 AM CDT (07:51 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1996, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Wells County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 123 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:51 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 120 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 1996-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1259 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 1996-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1259 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-238 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2050 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

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.

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, Aug 20, 9:30 PM CDT, 5 hours 21 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Aug 20, 9:48 PM CDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Aug 20, 11:20 PM CDT, 3 hours 31 minutes before
NDZ034-035-210515-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1119 PM CDT (1019 PM MDT) TUE AUG 20 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HEADING FOR BISMARCK AND MANDAN...

AT 1115 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BISMARCK...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE A
HISTORY OF PRODUCING PEA TO DIME SIZE HAIL...BUT HAVE WEAKENED A LITTLE
IN THE PAST 10 MINUTES.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILpL MOVE INTO THE CITIES OF BISMARCK AND MANDAN BY
1140 PM CDT. HEAVY RAIN WITH SOME STREET FLOODING IS LIKELY...ALONG WITH
DEADLY LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.

VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Aug 20, 11:36 PM CDT, 3 hours 15 minutes before
NDZ034-035-210530-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1135 PM CDT TUE AUG 20 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HEADING FOR BISMARCK AND MANDAN...

AT 1135 PM CDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BISMARCK...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE
INTO THE CITIES OF BISMARCK AND MANDAN BY 1145 PM CDT.

THE THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN WITH SOME STREET
FLOODING...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.

VAN ESS
Special weather statement, Aug 21, 2:13 AM CDT, 38 minutes before
NDZ004>007-011>015-020>023-034>036-041-042-044>046-071200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
210 AM CDT WED AUG 21 1996

...TORNADO WATCH NO LONGER IN EFFECT...
THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 AM CDT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. HOWEVER THERE IS STILL A THREAT
OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND...TO
OCCUR THROUGH DAYBREAK. AT 2 AM CDT SCATTERED DTHUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED
ACROSS THE STATE MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH. BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND STRONG WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

VINING

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcHenry35 min
Aug 20, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGrant, Morton50 min
Aug 21, 3:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean, Mercer65 min
Aug 21, 4:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISSheridan63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.