Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 21, 1996Marshall County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 1996, 2:37 PM CDT for Marshall County, Minnesota. It was in force for 38 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 21, 1996, 2:37 PM CDT (19:37 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1996, 3:15 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Marshall County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:51 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 21, 2:37 PM CDTTornado F0Newfolden, 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 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 227 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 1996-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 254 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 1996-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
254 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
754 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 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 211938
TORFAR
MNC089-212015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
237 PM CDT SUN JUL 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
 
   ...MARSHALL COUNTY
 
AT 235 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED AT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF
VIKING OR 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF GRAND FORKS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO BETWEEN VIKING AND NEW FOLDEN.
 
 
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.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 3:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk38 min
Jul 21, 4:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNorman23 min
Jul 21, 1:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson29 min
Jul 21, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson, Roseau54 min
Jul 21, 2:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk51 min
Jul 21, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker39 min
Jul 21, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau39 min
Jul 21, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMahnomen30 min
Jul 21, 4:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau26 min
Jul 21, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk34 min
Jul 21, 4:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater32 min
Jul 21, 4:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami36 min
Jul 21, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk26 min
Jul 21, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk31 min
Jul 21, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami41 min
Jul 21, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater39 min
Jul 21, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail43 min
Jul 21, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker25 min
Jul 21, 6:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami34 min
Jul 21, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail29 min
Jul 21, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWadena34 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.