Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 221, NWS Twin Cities, MN

October 17, 1996Martin County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 17, 1996, 12:11 AM CDT for Martin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 49 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
Oct 17, 1996, 12:11 AM CDT (05:11 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1996, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Martin County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:12 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
Oct 17, 12:30 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Fairmont, 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, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 809 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
809 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1117 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 170512
SVRMSP
MNC091-170600-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1211 AM CDT THU OCT 17 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  MARTIN COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 100 AM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    FAIRMONT
    GRANADA
    NORTHROP
    WILBERT

* AT 1205 AM LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES
  WEST OF FAIRMONT MOVING NORTHEAST tAT 40 MPH.

LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.  GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING
AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

JUSKIE
 
&

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

Local storm report, Oct 16, 11:31 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MINNESOTA
1129 PM CDT WED OCT 16 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0709 PM    2 N COURTLAND             MN   .75 INCH HAIL
10/16/96   NICOLLET

0710 PM    5 SW NEW ULM              MN   1 INCH HAIL
10/16/96   BROWN

0759 PM    RIVER FALLS               WI   .75 INCH HAIL
10/16/96   ST CROIX

0825 PM    4 NW COATES               MN   1 INCH HAIL
10/16/96   DAKOTA                         REPORTED BY PARK RANGER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 16, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXNicollet44 min
Oct 16, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Scott58 min
Oct 16, 8:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota43 min
Oct 16, 9:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXIsanti, Kanabec45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1996Every 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.