Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 18, 1997Hettinger County, Stark County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 2:02 AM MDT for Hettinger County, Stark County, North Dakota. It was in force for 58 min. 2 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
Jul 18, 1997, 2:02 AM MDT (08:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 3:00 AM MDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hettinger County, ND, Stark County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 138 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:00 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
Jul 18, 2:10 AM MDTThunderstorm Wind 65Mott, NDtree blown down on top of house
Jul 18, 2:15 AM MDTThunderstorm Wind 55Gladstone, NDstrong winds blew a pickup camper shell through a garage door. winds occurred 2 NW Gladstone.

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 17, 11:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1566 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 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1566 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1879 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 180804 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC041-089-180900-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
302 AM CDT (202 AM MDT) FRI JUL 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 AM CDT (300 AM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...HETTINGER COUNTY
 
IN WEST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...EASTERN STARK COUNTY
 
AT 2 AM MDT A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST EAST OF
DICKINSON TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF NEW ENGLAND...30 MILES SOUTH OF
DICKINSON. THE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH...
AND WERE GETTING STRONGER.
 
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE TOWNS OF GLADSTONE...LEFO...REGENT...MOTT...TAYLOR AND RICHARDTON.
 
AT 145 AM MDT NEW ENGLAND REPORTED TORRENTIAL RAIN...HAIL TO 1/2 INCH
AND WINDS TO 40 MPH.
 
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
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
VAN ESS/VINING
&

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, Jul 18, 1:45 AM MDT, 17 minutes before
NDZ001>003-009>011-017-180830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
245 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

...SEVERE THUNDRSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR PART OF NORTHWEST NORTH
DAKOTA...

THE NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA COUNTIES OF
DIVIDE...WILLIAMS...MCKENZIE...BURKE...MOUNTRAIL...RENVILLE AND WARD
HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH. THE THUNDERSTORMS
ARE NO LONGER SEVERE...BUT SOME HEAVY RAINS ARE STILL POSSIBLE.

LM
Special weather statement, Jul 18, 1:58 AM MDT, 4 minutes before
NDZ034-035-180900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
256 AM CDT (156 AM MDT) FRI JUL 18 1997

...STRONG WINDS REPORTED MOVING INTO CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

STRONG EASTERLY WINDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN WESTERN
MORTON COUNTY IN THE TOWN OF GLEN ULLIN. THE WINDS ARE WELL AHEAD OF
A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL STARK COUNTY.

STRONG WINDS OVER 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN
MORTON COUNTY. THE STRONG WINDS WILL MOVE THROUGH NEW SALEM AND ALMONT..AND POSSIBLY INTO THE CITIES OF BISMARCK AND MANDAN AREA BY 4 AM CDT.

VAN ESS
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 11:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcKenzie56 min
Jul 17, 11:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGolden Valley52 min
Jul 17, 11:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBillings60 min
Jul 18, 12:24 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISAdams, Hettinger51 min
Jul 18, 1:05 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStark55 min
Jul 18, 1:28 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISHettinger62 min
Jul 18, 3:20 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh, Morton55 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.