Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 24, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 18, 19965 counties in Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1996, 10:03 PM CDT for 5 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 57 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 18, 1996, 10:03 PM CDT (03:03 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1996, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Carver County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Wright County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:02 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 18, 10:25 PM CDTHail 1.75Brownton, MN
May 18, 10:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Rockford, 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, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 44 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 1996-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 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 1996-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-231 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2274 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 190304
SVRMSP
MNC067-085-093-143-171-019-053-139-079-190400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
1003 PM CDT SAT MAY 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...KANDIYOHI COUNTY...MCLEOD COUNTY...MEEKER COUNTY
   ...SIBLEY COUNTY...WRIGHT COUNTY
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...CARVER COUNTY...HENNEPIN COUNTY...SCOTT COUNTY
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...NORTHERN LESUEUR COUNTY
 
AT 1000 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE STORMS OVER
CENTRAL MINNESOTA0 BETWEEN REDWOOD FALLS TO JUST SOUTH OF LE SEUR. THE
STORM WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE CITIES
OF THE TWIN CITIES...BUFFALO...LE SEUR...HUTCHINSON...LITCHFIELD AND
CHASKA.

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 18, 4:19 PM CDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before
MNZ039-046>096-190200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...MINNESOTA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
345 PM CDT SAT MAY 18 1996

...POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA
TONIGHT...

A DEVELOPING WEATHER SYSTEM ACROSS THE DAKOTAS WILL SWING INTO
THE UPPER MIDWEST OVERNIGHT AND BRING A RETURN OF GULF MOISTURE
TO MINNESOTA.  THE COMBINATION OF THESE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE
ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM OUTBREAK ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TONIGHT.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY THIS EVENING NEAR THE MINNESOTA/SOUTH DAKOTA BORDER.
CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THESE STORMS TO BECOME
SEVERE...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY
TORNADOES.  THE STORMS SHOULD SPREAD ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA
AND REACH THE TWIN CITIES AND ROCHESTER BY AROUND MIDNIGHT.
>
THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION.  PLEASE REMAIN
ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER
UPDATES.

MARGRAF!

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRenville43 min
May 18, 8:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi41 min
May 18, 9:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXLac qui Parle25 min
May 18, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXYellow Medicine34 min
May 18, 9:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle, Renville, Yellow Medicine36 min
May 18, 9:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStevens, Swift36 min
May 18, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLe Sueur, Scott57 min
May 18, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXHennepin57 min
May 18, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi57 min
May 18, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi, Meeker, Stearns63 min
May 18, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Hennepin, Sherburne, Wright63 min
May 18, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRamsey, Washington63 min
May 18, 11:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Renville, Yellow Medicine55 min
May 18, 11:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRedwood55 min
May 18, 11:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChisago, Isanti54 min
May 18, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBrown, Watonwan45 min
May 18, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXNicollet, Sibley45 min
May 18, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod45 min
May 18, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, Sherburne, Wright50 min
May 18, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMeeker, Stearns50 min
May 18, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWashington50 min
May 18, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Hennepin, Meeker, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright65 min
May 18, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRamsey, Washington65 min
May 19, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRenville29 min
May 19, 12:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChisago, Isanti53 min
May 19, 12:20 AM CDTTornado WarningMPXWright25 min
May 19, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver, Le Sueur, McLeod, Nicollet, Scott, Sibley60 min
May 19, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, Watonwan60 min
May 19, 12:30 AM CDTTornado WarningMPXCarver, McLeod, Sibley30 min
May 19, 12:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault, Martin45 min
May 19, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington62 min
May 19, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Chisago62 min
May 19, 1:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXIsanti37 min
May 19, 1:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue, Rice58 min
May 19, 1:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFreeborn, Steele, Waseca58 min
May 19, 1:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault34 min
May 19, 1:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Le Sueur28 min
May 19, 1:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDodge, Mower73 min
May 19, 1:48 AM CDTTornado WarningMPXFreeborn27 min
May 19, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue76 min
May 19, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFillmore, Houston, Winona61 min
May 19, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXOlmsted, Wabasha61 min
May 19, 3:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFillmore, Houston29 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.