Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 155, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 31, 1997Kidder County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT for Kidder County, North Dakota. It was in force for 47 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT (01:13 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Kidder County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:12 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 31, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 74 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1997-09-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1215 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1997-09-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
1215 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1935 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

724 
WUUS1 KBIS 010114 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC043-010200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
813 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...KIDDER COUNTY
 
AT 810 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW 2 CLUSTERS OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THE FIRST CLUSTER COVERED MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN
HALF OF KIDDER COUNTY...CENTERED 45 MILES EAST OF BISMARCK.
 
THE SECOND CLUSTER WAS LOCATED 55 MILES NORTHEAST OF BISMARCK NEAR
ROBINSON.
 
MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WAS TO THE EAST AT 25 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF
THESE CLUSTERS INCLUDE TAPPEN...CRYSTAL SPRINGS...LAKE WILLIAMS AND
DAWSON.
 
AT 750 PM 3/4 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED 1 MILE WEST OF STEELE.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY 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, 1 hour 48 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, 1 hour 46 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 7:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBISStutsman44 min
Aug 31, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh, Kidder44 min
Aug 31, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman33 min
Aug 31, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh48 min
Aug 31, 8:57 PM CDTTornado WarningBISStutsman33 min
Aug 31, 9:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISKidder69 min
Aug 31, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh47 min
Aug 31, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISLogan, Stutsman44 min
Aug 31, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISLaMoure41 min
Aug 31, 10:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISDickey64 min
Aug 31, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISLaMoure43 min
Sep 1, 12:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman41 min
Sep 1, 12:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISLogan, McIntosh51 min
Sep 1, 1:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman14 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.