Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 142, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 21, 1996Benson County, Towner County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 1996, 4:11 AM CDT for Benson County, Towner County, North Dakota. It was in force for 34 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
Aug 21, 1996, 4:11 AM CDT (09:11 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1996, 4:45 AM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Benson County, ND, Towner County, ND

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:10 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
Aug 21, 4:18 AM CDTHail 0.75Churches Ferry, 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 00:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 207 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 21, 3:11 AM CDT, 1 hour before
NDZ016-210845-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
310 AM CDT WED AUG 21 1996

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES FOR EASTERN WALSH COUNTY
UNTIL 330 AM CDT...

AT 3 AM CDT 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED IN GRAFTON. AT 307 AM
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM ADAMS...45 MILES NORTHEAST OF DEVILS LAKE
TO THE RED RIVER EAST OF GRAFTON. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXTEND ALONG THE NORTHERN WALSH COUNTY LINE
FROM HOOPLE TO DRAYTON BY 330 AM.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND OVER 57 MPH...HAIL
3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER OR LARGER...TORNADOES...DEADLY
LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM  ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.

HOPPES

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 21, 7:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall25 min
Aug 21, 7:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall15 min
Aug 21, 9:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami36 min
Aug 21, 10:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami30 min
Aug 21, 11:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami36 min
Aug 21, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater35 min
Aug 21, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWilkin48 min
Aug 20, 11:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson40 min
Aug 21, 2:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks30 min
Aug 21, 2:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWalsh38 min
Aug 21, 4:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRamsey39 min
Aug 21, 4:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina29 min
Aug 21, 4:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier41 min
Aug 21, 10:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks31 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.