Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 28, 1996Ramsey County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1996, 5:31 PM CDT for Ramsey County, North Dakota. 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
Jul 28, 1996, 5:31 PM CDT (22:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1996, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Ramsey County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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 28, 6:00 PM CDTHail 1Churchs Ferry, ND

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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 223 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1996-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1996-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-240 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1075 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 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 282232
TORFAR
NDC071-282300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
531 PM CDT SUN JUL 28 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN RAMSEY COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO LOCATED 5 MILES EAST
OF LEEDS...OR 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEVILS LAKE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10
MPH. THE CITY OF CHURCHS FERRY IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. A FUNNEL
CLOUD WAS REPORTED AT 528 PM CDT BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BAS@EMENT.  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.
 
NG
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTowner25 min
Jul 28, 4:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTowner25 min
Jul 28, 4:48 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFTowner27 min
Jul 28, 4:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson37 min
Jul 28, 5:07 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBenson33 min
Jul 28, 5:36 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBenson24 min
Jul 28, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson28 min
Jul 28, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFEddy43 min
Jul 28, 6:57 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFEddy33 min
Jul 28, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFEddy33 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.