Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 31, 1996Richland County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 8:10 PM CDT for Richland County, North Dakota. It was in force for 35 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, 8:10 PM CDT (01:10 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Richland County, ND

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 31, 8:19 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Lidgerwood, ND
May 31, 8:51 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Hankinson, 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 189 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 010111
TORFAR
NDC077-010145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA ND
810 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...RICHLAND COUNTY
 
AT 806 PM CDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT IN LIDGERWOOD REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD.
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN LIDGERWOOD OR 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
WAHPETON. THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35
MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO MANTADOR BY 825 PM CDT AND WILL APPROACH THE
WAHPETON AREA BY 845 PM CDT.
 
THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
RICHLAND COUNTY.
 
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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 7:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Sargent	27 min
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, 8:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Richland	19 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.