Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 178, NWS Bismarck, ND

October 11, 1997Sheridan County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 11, 1997, 9:13 PM CDT for Sheridan County, North Dakota. It was in force for 62 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
Oct 11, 1997, 9:13 PM CDT (02:13 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 1997, 10:15 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Sheridan County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:17 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 11, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1997-10-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2113 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1997-10-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2113 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1427 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 120214 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC083-120315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
913 PM CDT SAT OCT 11 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SHERIDAN COUNTY
 
AT 910 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 40 MILES NORTH OF
BISMARCK NEAR MCCLUSKY. THE STORM IS MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH. TOWNS IN OR
NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE MCCLUSKY...DENHOFF AND GOODRICH.
 
VERY HEAVY RAINS WILL ALSO CAUSE SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING AND PONDING OF
WATER ON ROADWAYS.
 
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/HAMILTON

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, Oct 11, 8:25 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
NDZ022-023-034>036-046-047-050-120230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
825 PM CDT SAT OCT 11 1997

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

AT 820 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CITIES OF BISMARCK AND MANDAN
BETWEEN 825 AND 930 PM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HAIL...STRONG
WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH DEADLY LIGHTNING. STREET FLOODING
WILL LIKELY OCCUR IN THE CITIES AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE THROUGH.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
STRONG WINDS THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM. THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA MAY BECOME SEVERE VERY QUICKLY. BE
ALERT AND TAKE SHELTER AS THE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH.

VAN ESS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 11, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISEmmons49 min
Oct 11, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISWells56 min
Oct 11, 9:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISEmmons27 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.