Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 11, 1997Bottineau County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 11, 1997, 8:56 PM CDT for Bottineau County, North Dakota. It was in force for 49 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
Jul 11, 1997, 8:56 PM CDT (01:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 11, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Bottineau County, ND

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:55 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 11, 9:05 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Gardena, ND
Jul 11, 9:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Bottineau, ND
Jul 11, 9:30 PM CDTTornado F0Kramer, NDbrief tornado touchdown 6 NW of Kramer. a few power poles and trees were snapped.

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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 225 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 1997-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3242 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -54 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1128 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-67 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 120156 RRA
TORBIS
NDC009-120245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
856 PM CDT FRI JUL 11 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...CENTRAL BOTTINEAU COUNTY
 
AT 855 PM DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 4 MILES NORTH OF
KRAMER...45 MILES NORTHEAST OF MINOT. THE PARENT THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING
NORTH AT 25 MPH. THE TORNADO IS OVER OPEN COUNTRYSIDE AND IS NOT HEADING
TOWARD ANY TOWNS.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITU\RE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
LEBLANG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 11, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau, Renville65 min
Jul 11, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau, McHenry, Renville56 min
Jul 11, 9:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau, Rolette29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.