Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS La Crosse, WI

July 20, 1997Winona County, Minnesota

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1997, 8:19 PM CDT for Winona County, Minnesota. It was in force for 41 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: Jul 20, 1997, 8:19 PM CDT (01:19 UTC)
Expired: Jul 20, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS La Crosse, WI
Area: Whole counties

County Winona County, MN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 20, 8:44 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Utica, MN
Jul 20, 8:44 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Utica, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 174 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: 1231 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 31 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 KLSE 210121 RRA
TORLSE
MNC169-210200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
819 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
    WINONA COUNTY - SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    RIDGEWAY
    WILSON
    UTICA

* AT 817 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 10 SOUTH OF WINONA...NEAR RIDGEWAY...AND 25 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF ROCHESTER...NEAR CLYDE. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT
  10 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE AROUND RIDGEWAY AND CLYDE BETWEEN 820 AND 840
  PM..

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN
THE LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

RIECK/NELSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 20, 7:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Dodge, Olmsted	65 min
Jul 20, 8:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Winona	63 min
Jul 20, 8:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Olmsted	36 min
Jul 20, 8:51 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ARX	Winona	3 hr
Jul 20, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Houston	58 min
Jul 20, 9:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Winona	45 min
Jul 20, 9:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ARX	Fillmore, Mower	60 min
Jul 20, 10:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ARX	Fillmore	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.