Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 82, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 11, 1996, 6:58 PM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 32 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
- Jul 11, 1996, 6:58 PM CDT (23:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 11, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 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 00:03 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 11, 7:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Ottertail, 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 12:00Z, 12.0 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1660 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 218 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 282 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 120000 SVRFAR MNC111-120030- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND 658 PM CDT THU JUL 11 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA ...OTTER TAIL COUNTY AT 655 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF ELIZABETH OR 7 MILES NORTHEAST OF FERGUS FALLS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. SOME TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE UNDERWOOD AND WEGGELAND. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
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, Jul 11, 2:27 PM CDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
NDZ006-007-008-014-015-016-024-026-027-028-029-030-038-039-049- 052-053-MNZ004-005-006-007-008-009-001-002-003-013-014-015-016- 017-022-023-024-027-028-029-030-031-032-040-120000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA 230 PM CDT THU JUL 11 1996 ...COLD AIR FUNNELS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON... FUNNELS CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN PARTS OF NORTHWEST MINESOTA THIS AFTERNOON. NO DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED AND TOUCH DOWNS HAVE NOT BEEN CONFIRMED. ONE SUCH FUNNEL WAS REPORT NEAR LANCASTER IN KITTSON COUNTY. THE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ACROSS NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA FAVOR THE FORMATION OF A TYPE OF FUNNEL CLOUD COMMONLY CALLED A COLD AIR FUNNEL. THESE FUNNELS ARE USUALLY SMALL AND ARE NOT AS VIOLENT AS THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STUDIES OF COLD AIR FUNNELS SHOW THAT THEY RARELY MAKE CONTACT WITH THE GROUND. THEY NORMALLY PROTUDE A FEW HUNDRED FEET BELOW THE PARENT CLOUD...ROTATE LIKE A TOP...AND LAST FOR A FEW MINUTES BEFORE DISSIPATING. . PEOPLE IN THE AREA SHOULD NOT BECOME UNDULY ALARMED BUT SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF A FUNNEL APPROACHES THE GROUND...OR A LOCAL WARNING IS ISSUEbD. BELLES
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.