Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 18, 1996Stearns County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1996, 12:49 AM CDT for Stearns County, Minnesota. It was in force for 41 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
Jul 18, 1996, 12:49 AM CDT (05:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1996, 1:30 AM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Stearns County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:49 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
Jul 18, 1:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Richmond, 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 111 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 1996-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1409 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 1996-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 98 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
1409 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
988 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
354 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
12.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 180556 COR
TORMSP
MNC145-180630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1249 AM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EASTERN STEARNS COUNTY - CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 130 AM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    ST. CLOUD
    RICHMOND
    CLEARWATER

* AT 1250 AM CDT DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED SEVERAL POSSIBLE TORNADOES
  FROM ALBANY THROUGH RICHMOND TO JUST NORTH OF EDEN VAL~LEY...OR
  FROM 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST. CLOUD TO 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ST.
  CLOUD.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.


 GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

HOWIESON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 10:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStevens53 min
Jul 17, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLac qui Parle, Swift63 min
Jul 17, 10:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStevens50 min
Jul 17, 11:01 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXStevens, Swift34 min
Jul 17, 11:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXSwift40 min
Jul 17, 11:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope66 min
Jul 17, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Kandiyohi62 min
Jul 17, 11:57 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXChippewa, Swift33 min
Jul 18, 12:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStearns42 min
Jul 18, 12:31 AM CDTTornado WarningMPXKandiyohi, Stearns49 min
Jul 18, 12:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi, Meeker, Stearns49 min
Jul 18, 12:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Swift43 min
Jul 18, 12:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Sherburne, Wright63 min
Jul 18, 1:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Renville47 min
Jul 18, 3:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Ramsey47 min

Nearby

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