Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1996, 6:51 PM CDT for Wilkin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 29 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
- May 17, 1996, 6:51 PM CDT (23:51 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1996, 7:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wilkin County, MN
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:51 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 7:10 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Campbell, 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
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 221 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
- 1289 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -330 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 656 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 137 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 52 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 172353 TORFAR MNC167-180020- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND 651 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 720 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA ...SOUTHERN WILKIN COUNTY AT 650 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A TORNADO MOVING INTO SOUTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY...1 MILE EAST OF FAIRMONT...OR 15 MILES SOUTH OF WAHPETON. THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL REACH TENNEY BY 705 PM CDT. THIS STORM PRODUCED A TORNADO NEAR HANKINSON AT 640 PM CDT. 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. & NG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 10:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 31 min |
| May 16, 11:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 23 min |
| May 17, 12:31 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Marshall, Polk | 29 min |
| May 17, 6:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Wilkin | 27 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.