Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 17, 1996Douglas County, Pope County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1996, 7:00 PM CDT for Douglas County, Pope County, Minnesota. It was in force for 45 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 17, 1996, 7:00 PM CDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1996, 7:45 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Douglas County, MN, Pope County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 179 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:06 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	Remark
May 17, 7:30 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Gilchrist, MN
May 17, 7:30 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Miltona, 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, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 180001
TORMSP
MNC041-121-180045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
700 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...DOUGLAS COUNTY...POPE COUNTY
 
AT 700 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 5 MILES WEST OF MORRIS AT ALBERTA
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
SOME OF THE CITIES IN THE PATH ARE...FARWELL...CYRUS...KENSINGTON THESE
TOWNS ARE ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA.
 
HEAD FOR THE BASEMENT NOW!  THE TORNADO COULD BE BEARING DOWN ON
YOU QUICKLY.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER STURDY FURNITURE.
 
&
CARLYON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Stearns, Todd	40 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

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.