Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 17, 1996Stevens County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1996, 6:44 PM CDT for Stevens County, Minnesota. It was in force for 46 min. 3 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, 6:44 PM CDT (23:44 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

County Stevens County, MN

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 189 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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, 6:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Alberta, MN
May 17, 6:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Donnelly, MN
May 17, 6:45 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Morris, 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 203 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: 1289 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -330 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 656 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 52 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 172345
TORMSP
MNC149-180030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
644 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...STEVENS COUNTY
 
RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO FORMING NEAR CLINTON OR 10 MILES
NORTH OF ORTONVILLE.
 
THIS STORM IS MOVING T~O THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
SOME OF THE TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...CHOKIO AND MORRIS.
 
HEAD FOR THE BASEMENT NOW!  THE TORNADO COULD BE BEARING DOWN ON
YOU QUICKLY.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER STURDY FURNITURE.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 8:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Chisago, Isanti	53 min
May 17, 6:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Lac qui Parle	53 min
May 17, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Chippewa, Stevens, Swift	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.