Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 17, 1996Cass County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT for Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 30 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 17, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT (02:15 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1996, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Cass County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:14 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 243 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 1996-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4029 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 1996-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
4029 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.3
Supercell composite
17.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 180218
TORFAR
NDC017-180245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
915 PM CDT WED JUL 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...NORTHERN CASS COUNTY
 
AT 917 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO LOCATED NEAR
ARTHUR...OR 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF FARGO. THIS STORM IS MOVING VERY
SLOWLY TO THE EAST AT AROUND 10 MPH. PEOPLE IN THE TOWN OF GARDNER
SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR UNDE&R 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.
 
NG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 7:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass38 min
Jul 17, 9:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass25 min
Jul 17, 9:22 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFTraill23 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 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.