Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 17, 1996Martin County, Watonwan County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1996, 9:49 PM CDT for Martin County, Watonwan County, Minnesota. It was in force for 26 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: May 17, 1996, 9:49 PM CDT (02:49 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1996, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Martin County, MN, Watonwan County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:48 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 17, 10:00 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	South Branch, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 138 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: 3047 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 270 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 12.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 180252 COR
SVRMSP
MNC091-165-180315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED FOR DIRECTION OF REF. CITY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
949 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

   ...NORTHWESTERN MARTIN COUNTY...WATONWAN COUNTY

AT 945 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM FROM BUTTERFIELD AND
TRIMONT OR 10 TO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF FAIRMONT.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

SOME OF THE TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE...ST JAMES...SOUTH
BRANCH AND MADELIA.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING.  BE READY TO
QUICKLY MOVE TO THE BASEMENT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 17, 7:39 PM CDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before

MNZ039-040-046-047-054>056-064-180145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHANHASSEN/TWIN CITIES MN
738 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996

THE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 383 HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN PART OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

TRAVERSE...GRANT...STEVENS...BIG STONE...SWIFT...LAC QUI PARLE
CHIPPEWA AND YELLOW MEDICINE.

A TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 386 WILL GO IN EFFECT 745 PM UNTIL 100 AM FOR
MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHExAST MINNESOTA.

JVM

Special weather statement, May 17, 9:25 PM CDT, 24 minutes before

MNZALL-180300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHANHASSEN/TWIN CITIES MN
925 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996

THE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 383 HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED AND IS NO LONGER
IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE OVER THIS AREA UNTIL MIDNIGHT.
BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MILES AN HOUR
ARE LIKELY WITH PASSAGE OF THE STRONGER STORMS.

ADDITIONAL INFORhMATION... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA UNTIL 100 AM SATURDAY MORNING.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST MINNESOTA
UNTIL 200 AM.

JVM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 7:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Douglas, Pope	45 min
May 17, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Stearns, Todd	40 min
May 17, 7:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Pope	11 min
May 17, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Morrison, Stearns	49 min
May 17, 8:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Todd	27 min
May 17, 8:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Todd	17 min
May 17, 8:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Benton, Morrison, Stearns	49 min
May 17, 9:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Renville	40 min
May 17, 9:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Sherburne, Stearns	31 min
May 17, 10:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Benton, Mille Lacs, Sherburne	27 min
May 17, 10:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Blue Earth, Brown, Nicollet	35 min
May 17, 10:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Isanti, Kanabec	41 min
May 18, 1:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Fillmore, Houston	33 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1996 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.