Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 152, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1997, 6:39 PM CDT for Kidder County, Stutsman County, North Dakota. It was in force for 51 min. 4 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 31, 1997, 6:39 PM CDT (23:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 31, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Kidder County, ND, Stutsman County, ND
The radar
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 6:40 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Jamestown, ND | brief touchdown near the Buffalo mall |
| Aug 31, 6:51 PM CDT | Hail 4.5 | Steele, ND | hail ranging in size from 1.75 inches to 4.50 inches fell in a swath from Steele to Lake Isabel. Numerous tree and property damage reported. |
| Aug 31, 6:53 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Eldridge, ND | brief touchdown |
| Aug 31, 7:17 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Jamestown, ND | brief touchdown |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 4:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 104 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -416 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1991 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 284 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 333 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBIS 312339 RRA SVRBIS NDC043-093-010030- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 639 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ...KIDDER COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ...WESTERN STUTSMAN COUNTY AT 635 PM CDT A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM 35 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BISMARCK TO 70 MILES NORTHEAST OF BISMARCK. THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. TOWNS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS LINE INCLUDE STEELE...ROBINSON AND TAPPEN. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCHCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. HINTZ/LEBLANG
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 6:25 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
NDZ004-005-012-013-022-023-010030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 625 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHCENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA... THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHCENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN CANCELLED. COUNTIES NO LONGER IN THE WATCH INCLUDE BOTTINEAU...MCHENERY...SHERIDAN...WELLS...PIERCE AND ROLETTE. THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THIS EVENING IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED COUNTIES. HINTZ
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 6:27 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
NDZ004-005-012-013-022-023-010030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 625 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHCENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA... THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHCENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN CANCELLED. COUNTIES NO LONGER IN THE WATCH INCLUDE BOTTINEAU...MCHENERY...SHERIDAN...WELLS...PIERCE AND ROLETTE. THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THIS EVENING IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED COUNTIES. HINTZ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 4:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 55 min |
| Aug 31, 4:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Kidder | 62 min |
| Aug 31, 4:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 39 min |
| Aug 31, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 63 min |
| Aug 31, 5:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Foster | 47 min |
| Aug 31, 5:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 35 min |
| Aug 31, 6:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 32 min |
| Aug 31, 6:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 17 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 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.