Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 17, 1996Renville County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1996, 9:05 PM CDT for Renville County, Minnesota. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1996, 9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1996, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Renville County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:08 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 1996-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3047 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 1996-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 155 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
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 180203
SVRMSP
MNC129-180245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
905 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...EASTERN RENVILLE COUNTY
 
AT 905 PM...RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF REDWOOD
FALLS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
 
SOME OF THE TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...HECTOR...MORTON AND
BECHYN.
 
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, 1 hour 26 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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXDouglas, Pope45 min
May 17, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStearns, Todd40 min
May 17, 7:49 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXPope11 min
May 17, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMorrison, Stearns49 min
May 17, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXTodd27 min
May 17, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXTodd17 min
May 17, 8:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Morrison, Stearns49 min
May 17, 9:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSherburne, Stearns31 min
May 17, 9:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMartin, Watonwan26 min
May 17, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Mille Lacs, Sherburne27 min
May 17, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, Nicollet35 min
May 17, 10:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXIsanti, Kanabec41 min
May 18, 1:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFillmore, Houston33 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.