Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Bismarck, ND

September 4, 1996Burke County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Sep 4, 1996, 2:18 PM CDT for Burke County, North Dakota. It was in force for 27 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: Sep 4, 1996, 2:18 PM CDT (19:18 UTC)
Expired: Sep 4, 1996, 2:45 PM CDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Burke County, ND

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 4, 2:25 PM CDT	Hail 1	Bowbells, ND

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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 263 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -194 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1046 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 225 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 041917
TORISN
NDC013-041945-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
ISSUED BY BISMARCK ND
218 PM CDT WED SEP 4 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...EASTERN BURKE COUNTY
 
AT 210 CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR LIGNITE...OR 80 MILES
WEST OF BOTTINEAU MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH INCLUDE
NORTHGATE AND FLAXTON.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR R&OOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
ABELING

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 4, 7:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Morton	48 min
Sep 4, 9:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean	30 min
Sep 4, 10:57 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Ward	63 min
Sep 4, 12:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bottineau, Renville	62 min
Sep 4, 2:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Renville	42 min
Sep 4, 3:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bottineau	66 min
Sep 4, 6:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie, Williams	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.