Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 124, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 21, 1996Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1996, 7:42 PM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 33 min. 2 reports 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
Jul 21, 1996, 7:42 PM CDT (00:42 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1996, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Otter Tail County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 175 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:44 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
Jul 21, 7:46 PM CDTHail 0.75Fergus Falls, MN
Jul 21, 7:49 PM CDTHail 0.75Fergus Falls, MN

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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 239 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 1996-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 368 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 1996-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1193 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 220046 COR
SVRFAR
MNC111-220115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
742 PM CDT SUN JUL 21 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

   ...SOUTHERN OTTER TAIL COUNTY

AT 740 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED AT 20 MILES EAST OF
FERGUS FALLS NEAR BATTLE LAKE. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE VINING AND CLITHERALL.
DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT BATTLE LAKE WITH THIS STORM.
REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.