Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 17, 1996Becker County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1996, 8:21 PM CDT for Becker County, Minnesota. It was in force for 24 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
May 17, 1996, 8:21 PM CDT (01:21 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Becker County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:25 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
May 17, 8:35 PM CDTThunderstorm WindDetroit Lakes, MN
May 17, 8:40 PM CDTThunderstorm WindOgema, 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

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 254 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, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1052 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 180122
SVRFAR
MNC005-180145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
821 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...BECKER COUNTY
 
AT 817 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
FROM LAKE PARK TO OGEMA TO TWO INLETS...OR 20 MILES NORTH OF DETROIT
LAKES. THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 25 MPH.
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THE STORM INCLUDE CALLAWAY AND THE TAMARAC
WILDLIFE REFUGE. AT 810 PM CDT...50 TO 60 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED IN
LAKE PARK.
 
REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADO
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
 
 
&
 
NG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrant38 min
May 17, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail46 min
May 17, 7:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWilkin53 min
May 17, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker, Clay41 min
May 17, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker25 min
May 17, 8:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater, Mahnomen30 min
May 17, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFHubbard33 min
May 17, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater, Mahnomen32 min
May 17, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami32 min
May 17, 8:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFMarshall3 hr

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.