Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 7:03 PM CDT for Sargent County, North Dakota. It was in force for 27 min. 2 reports 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 31, 1996, 7:03 PM CDT (00:03 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 27 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sargent County, ND
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:07 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 31, 7:25 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Havana, ND | |
| May 31, 7:35 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Havana, 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
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 147 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
- 2345 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 770 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 257 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 340 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.5
- Supercell composite
- 16.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 010005 TORFAR NDC081-010030- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND 703 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...SARGENT COUNTY AT 701 PM CDT...A MILE WIDE TORNADO WAS LOCATED 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BRITTON IN MARSHALL COUNTY SOUTH DAKOTA...OR 60 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAHPETON. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN THE TOWN OF HAVANA ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO. IT WILL REACH HAVANA BY 720 PM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNDAO TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. 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. JB &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 7:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Richland, Sargent | 33 min |
| May 31, 8:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Richland | 30 min |
| May 31, 8:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Richland | 35 min |
| May 31, 8:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Richland | 19 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.