Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 14, 1996Polk County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 14, 1996, 4:42 PM CDT for Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 18 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 14, 1996, 4:42 PM CDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 1996, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
18 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 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.

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 246 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 12:00Z on 1996-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 291 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 1996-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
291 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1051 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 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 142143
TORFAR
MNC119-142200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
442 PM CDT SUN JUL 14 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY
 
AT 439 PM CDT THE POLK COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A TORNADO BETWEEN THE
TOWNS OF FISHER AND CLIMAX...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS
TORNADO WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST OF CLIMAX BY 5 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR UNDER STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET.  COVER YOURSELF
WITH BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS.
 
STRAGER
 
&

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.