Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Bismarck, ND

May 4, 1997Adams County, Hettinger County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1997, 4:38 PM MDT for Adams County, Hettinger County, North Dakota. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report 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
May 4, 1997, 4:38 PM MDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1997, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Adams County, ND, Hettinger County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 4, 5:07 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 56Hettinger, ND64 MPH WIND

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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1997-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
255 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.

651 
WUUS1 KBIS 042239 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC001-041-042315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
538 PM CDT (438 PM MDT) SUN MAY 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT (515 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...ADAMS COUNTY...HETTINGER COUNTY
 
AT 425 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED 75 MPH WINDS AT BOWMAN.
THE STORM WAS NOW LOCATED ON THE BOWMAN-ADAMS COUNTY LINE 30 TO 45 MILES
SOUTH OF DICKINSON. THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE COUNTIES OF
HETTINGER AND ADAMS BY 500 PM MDT. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
INCLUDE REEDER...BUCYRUS...HETTINGER...NEW ENGLAND...REGENT AND MOTT.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
ABELING
&

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, May 4, 3:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
NDZ001>004-009>012-017>022-031>036-040>047-050-050300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
430 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 1997

...COLD FRONT BRINGING GUSTY WINDS TO WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE STATE THIS EVENING IS EXPECTED TO BRING
SEVERAL HOURS OF GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS TO WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT AND A
FEW SHOWERS MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 40 TO 50 MPH. A SHOWER THAT WENT
THROUGH MILES CITY AT 320 PM CDT PRODUCED A WIND GUST TO 55 MPH AND
CAUSED SOME DAMAGE TO IN THE CITY.

AFTER THE SUN SETS THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TO 10 TO 25 MPH.

ABELING
Special weather statement, May 4, 3:52 PM MDT, 46 minutes before
NDZ001>004-009>012-017>022-031>036-040>047-050-050300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
430 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 1997

...COLD FRONT BRINGING GUSTY WINDS TO WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE STATE THIS EVENING IS EXPECTED TO BRING
SEVERAL HOURS OF GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS TO WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT AND A
FEW SHOWERS MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 40 TO 50 MPH. A SHOWER THAT WENT
THROUGH MILES CITY AT 320 PM CDT PRODUCED A WIND GUST TO 55 MPH AND
CAUSED SOME DAMAGE TO IN THE CITY.

AFTER THE SUN SETS THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TO 10 TO 25 MPH.

ABELING

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 4:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISSlope15 min
May 4, 4:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStark27 min
May 4, 5:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISAdams, Grant, Hettinger47 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.