Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 17, 1996Stearns County, Todd County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1996, 7:20 PM CDT for Stearns County, Todd County, Minnesota. It was in force for 40 min. 4 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 17, 1996, 7:20 PM CDT (00:20 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1996, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Stearns County, MN, Todd County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 142 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:23 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
May 17, 7:30 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Sauk Centre, MN
May 17, 7:40 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Clotho, MN
May 17, 7:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Round Prairie, MN
May 17, 8:10 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Eagle Bend, 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 180020
SVRMSP
MNC145-153-180100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
720 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...WESTERN STEARNS COUNTY...TODD COUNTY
 
AT 720 PM...RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM
ALEXANDRIA TO GLENWOOD.
 
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
 
SOME OF THE CITIES IN THE PATH ARE...LONG PRAIRIE...SAUK CENTRE AND
CLOTHO.
 
THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND SMALL
TORNADOES.
 
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.

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, 7:49 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, 9:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Martin, Watonwan	26 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.