Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 31, 1996Richland County, Sargent County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 7:27 PM CDT for Richland County, Sargent County, North Dakota. It was in force for 33 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, 7:27 PM CDT (00:27 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1996, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:30 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
May 31, 7:35 PM CDTHail 1Havana, ND
May 31, 8:06 PM CDTHail 1.75Lidgerwood, 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 1996-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2345 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 1996-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 257 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 010029
TORFAR
NDC077-081-010100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
727 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SOUTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY...SARGENT COUNTY
 
AT 725 PM CDT...A TORNADO PRODUCING THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED AT
HAVANNA...40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAHPETON...MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35
MPH. THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE TO LIDGERWOOD BY 740 PM CDT. A
REPORT OF ONE INCH HAIL HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM THIS THUNDERSTORM.
 
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 AN 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
May 31, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFSargent27 min
May 31, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland30 min
May 31, 8:10 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRichland35 min
May 31, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland19 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.