Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Bismarck, ND

June 9, 1996Billings County, Golden Valley County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 9, 1996, 7:34 PM MDT for Billings County, Golden Valley County, North Dakota. It was in force for 26 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
Jun 9, 1996, 7:34 PM MDT (01:34 UTC)
Expired
Jun 9, 1996, 8:00 PM MDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Billings County, ND, Golden Valley County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 218 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:33 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 223 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 1996-06-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 748 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 1996-06-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
748 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-221 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2108 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KISN 100137
TORISN
NDC007-033-100200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
834 PM CDT (734 PM MDT) SUN JUN 9 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILLISTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT (800 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...WEST CENTRAL BILLINGS COUNTY
   ...EAST CENTRAL GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY
 
AT 728 PM. MDT...RADAR INDICATED INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A
TORNADO TOUCH DOWN REPORTED BY PUBLIC...NORTH OF SENTINEL BUTTE.
 
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 ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jun 9, 6:38 PM MDT, 56 minutes before
NDZ001-002-009-010-017-018-031-032-040-043-100500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
735 PM CDT (635 PM MDT) SUN JUN 9 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SCATTERED OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF NORTH
DAKOTA THIS EVENING...

THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF NORTH DAKOTA WILL BE RIPE
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS THE REST OF THE EVENING. SOME
OF THESE WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND
WIND GUSTS OVER 55 MPH. THESE FAVORABLE THUNDERSTORM CONDITIONS WILL
PERSIST UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT...11 MOUNTAIN.

IN FACT...AT 730 PM CDT...630 MOUNTAIN...A BROKEN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN BORDER 70 MILES NORTHEAST OF WILLISTON...
TO THE MONTANA BORDER 90 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON.

IN NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...A CLUSTER OF STRONG STORMS WAS IN BURKE
COUNTY...NORTHEAST OF WILLISTON.

IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...A STRONG STORM WAS JUST WEST OF MEDORA AND
ANOTHEJR WAS JUST WEST OF MARMARTH...BILLINGS AND SLOPE COUNTIES.

MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING WILL BE NORTHEAST. THEY WILL
BE MOVING SLOWLY AND COULD PRODUCE LOCALIZED FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE
AREAS.

JP MARTIN
Special weather statement, Jun 9, 6:39 PM MDT, 55 minutes before
NDZ001-002-009-010-017-018-031-032-040-043-100500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
735 PM CDT (635 PM MDT) SUN JUN 9 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SCATTERED OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF NORTH
DAKOTA THIS EVENING...

THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF NORTH DAKOTA WILL BE RIPE
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS THE REST OF THE EVENING. SOME
OF THESE WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND
WIND GUSTS OVER 55 MPH. THESE FAVORABLE THUNDERSTORM CONDITIONS WILL
PERSIST UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT...11 MOUNTAIN.

IN FACT...AT 730 PM CDT...630 MOUNTAIN...A BROKEN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN BORDER 70 MILES NORTHEAST OF WILLISTON...
TO THE MONTANA BORDER 90 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DICKINSON.

IN NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...A CLUSTER OF STRONG STORMS WAS IN BURKE
COUNTY...NORTHEAST OF WILLISTON.

IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA...A STRONG STORM WAS JUST WEST OF MEDORA AND
ANOTHER WAS PJUST WEST OF MARMARTH...BILLINGS AND SLOPE COUNTIES.

MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING WILL BE NORTHEAST. THEY WILL
BE MOVING SLOWLY AND COULD PRODUCE LOCALIZED FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE
AREAS.

JP MARTIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 9, 6:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurke, Mountrail64 min
Jun 9, 7:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurke, Mountrail117 min
Jun 9, 8:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBillings, Golden Valley57 min
Jun 9, 9:40 PM MDTTornado WarningBISMcKenzie, Mountrail35 min
Jun 9, 9:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcKenzie, Mountrail55 min

Nearby

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