Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1997, 6:02 PM MDT for Grant County, Morton County, Sioux County, North Dakota. It was in force for 43 min. 3 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
- May 4, 1997, 6:02 PM MDT (00:02 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 1997, 6:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Grant County, ND, Morton County, ND, Sioux County, ND
The radar
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:03 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 6:25 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Shields, ND | 60 MPH WIND |
| May 4, 6:30 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Selfridge, ND | 60 MPH WIND NUMEROUS TREE BRANCHES REPORTED DOWN |
| May 4, 6:55 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Ft Yates, ND | 70 MPH WIND TREE BRANCHES UP TO 6 INCHES IN DIAMETER DOWN |
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 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 63 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
- 43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -64 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2890 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
986 WUUS1 KBIS 050003 SVRBIS NDC059-037-085-050045- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 702 PM CDT (602 PM MDT) SUN MAY 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM CDT (645 PM MDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ...SOUTHERN MORTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ...EASTERN GRANT COUNTY...NORTHERN SIOUX COUNTY AT 550 PM MDT A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING INTO EASTERN GRANT...SOUTHERN MORTON...AND NORTHERN SIOUX COUNTIES. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM 47 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK NEAR THE TOWN OF HEIL TO 54 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK. THE LINE IS MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH INCLUDE FLASHER..RALEIGH...BREIEN...SHIELDS...AND SOLEN. AT 652 PM THE TOWN LEITH IN CENTRAL GRANT COUNTY REPORTED 70 MPH WIND GUSTS. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DONT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS. 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, 2 hours 32 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, 2 hours 10 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, 5:34 PM MDT, 28 minutes before
NDZ018-019-020-033-034-035-041-042-044-045-050030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 633 PM CDT (533 PM MDT) SUN MAY 4 1997 ...LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA... AT 630 PM CDT(530 PM MDT) WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. THE LINE EXTENDS FROM 44 MILES NORTH OF DICKINSON IN DUNN CO TO THE TOWN OF HAYNES...57 MILES SOUTH OF DICKINSON. THE LINE IS MOVING EAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH...WHILE THE INDIVIDUAL CELLS WITHIN THE LINE ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH. THE GREATEST THREAT FROM THESE STORMS IS STRONG WIND. WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH THEIR PASSAGE. SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET. HINTZ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 6:43 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Sioux | 32 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.