Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 151, NWS La Crosse, WI

August 23, 1997Houston County, Minnesota

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 23, 1997, 8:18 PM CDT for Houston County, Minnesota. It was in force for 62 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
Aug 23, 1997, 8:18 PM CDT (01:18 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 1997, 9:20 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Houston County, MN

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:17 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
Aug 23, 9:06 PM CDTTornado F0Caledonia, MN
Aug 23, 9:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Caledonia, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 23, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 213 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 1997-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3368 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1997-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 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
3368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1119 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
207 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
12.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLSE 240119 RRA
SVRLSE
MNC055-240220-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
818 PM CDT SAT AUG 23 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
    HOUSTON COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 920 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    HOKAH
    LA CRESENT
    MONEY CREEK

* AT 815 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF LA CROSSE. THE STORM
  WAS MOVING SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR HOKAH BY 825 PM.

THIS STORM WILL CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. DO NOT GO
OUTDOORS.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES. TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN A STRONG
BUILDING.

RIECK/SWERMAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 23, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningARXWinona37 min
Aug 23, 7:34 PM CDTTornado WarningARXWinona46 min
Aug 23, 8:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXWinona3 hr
Aug 23, 8:20 PM CDTTornado WarningARXWinona60 min
Aug 23, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFillmore47 min
Aug 23, 9:06 PM CDTTornado WarningARXHouston34 min
Aug 23, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFillmore46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.