Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 19, 1997McIntosh County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 19, 1997, 2:26 PM CDT for McIntosh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 34 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
Jul 19, 1997, 2:26 PM CDT (19:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County McIntosh County, ND

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:26 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 19, 2:50 PM CDTTornado F0Zeeland, NDtornado touched down 4 NE of Zeeland and then moved northeast

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, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 1997-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1357 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -76 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
1357 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
930 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 191927 RRA
TORBIS
NDC051-192000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
226 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MCINTOSH COUNTY
 
AT 225 PM CDT A SHERIFF SPOTTED A TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF ASHLEY...OR 75
MILES SOUTHWEST OF JAMESTOWN. THE PARENT THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 5 MPH.
 
THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF ASHLEY  AND VENTURIA
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENBT 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

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.