Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1997, 7:43 PM CDT for Sioux County, North Dakota. It was in force for 32 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, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 1997, 8:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sioux County, ND
The radar
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:44 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, 7:55 PM CDT | 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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 78 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.
000 TTAA00 KBIS 050045 RRA SVRBIS NDC085-050115- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 743 PM CDT (643 PM MDT) SUN MAY 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT (715 PM MDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ...EASTERN SIOUX COUNTY THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EXTENDS THE WARNING FOR SIOUX COUNTY UNTIL 715 PM MDT. THE WARNINGS FOR SOUTHERN MORTON AND EASTERN GRANT EXPIRE AT 645 PM MDT. AT 640 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 65 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF BISMARCK...15 MILES NORTHWEST OF FORT YATES...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE FORT YATES AND CASINO AREA BETWEEN 650 AND 705 PM MDT. WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH...PEA TO MARBE SIZE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. THE NORTH END OF THIS STORM WILL CONTAIN 50 TO 55 MPH WINDS NEAR CANNONBALL IN NORTHEAST SIOUX COUNTY. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMpS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. 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, 4:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 13 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, 4:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 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, 6:34 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 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, 7:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Grant, Morton, Sioux | 43 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.