Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 17, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 25, 1997, 3:49 PM CDT for McHenry County, Ward County, North Dakota. It was in force for 51 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 25, 1997, 3:49 PM CDT (20:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 25, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties McHenry County, ND, Ward County, ND
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 25, 3:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 165 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
- 655 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -252 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1262 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 35 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 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 252049 RRA TORBIS NDC049-101-252130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 349 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 440 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ...SOUTHWESTERN MCHENRY COUNTY...EASTERN WARD COUNTY AT 348 PM A TORNADO WAS 17 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MINOT...ALONG HIGHWAY 23. THIS LOCATION WAS 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF VELVA. THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH ARE SAWYER...VELVA...VOLTAIRE. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. JP MARTIN &
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 25, 11:45 AM CDT, 4 hours 4 minutes before
NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-260000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 1145 AM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997 ...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALL OF WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND IN THE CENTRAL TONIGHT... FORECAST...SOME STORMS THIS AFTERNOON COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HIGH WIND...AND HEAVY RAIN. THE RISK CONTINUES IN THE CENTRAL TONIGHT. DISCUSSION...A WEAK FRONT OVER WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY. AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BE TEMPERATURES AROUND 90 AND DEWPOINTS AROUND 70...SO AMPLE MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE. THE FRONT WILL PROVIDE LIFT. THE ATMOSPHERE WAS ALREADY UNSTABLE. STORMS WILL FIRE IN THE WEST AND MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL AS THE DAY GOES ON. ALTHOUGH ANY OF THE STORMS COULD GO SEVERE...THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL...CLOSER TO JET STREAM LEVEL UPPER AIR SUPPORT. WEATHER SPOTTERS ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...ESPECIALLY THE NORTH CENTRAL...SHOULD BE READY FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION. THIS PRODUCT IS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. JP MARTIN
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 11:50 AM CDT, 3 hours 59 minutes before
NDZ001>005-009>013-017>023-025-031>037-040>048-050-051-260000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 1145 AM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997 ...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALL OF WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND IN THE CENTRAL TONIGHT... FORECAST...SOME STORMS THIS AFTERNOON COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HIGH WIND...AND HEAVY RAIN. THE RISK CONTINUES IN THE CENTRAL TONIGHT. DISCUSSION...A WEAK FRONT OVER WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY. AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BE TEMPERATURES AROUND 90 AND DEWPOINTS AROUND 70...SO AMPLE MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE. THE FRONT WILL PROVIDE LIFT. THE ATMOSPHERE WAS ALREADY UNSTABLE. STORMS WILL FIRE IN THE WEST AND MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL AS THE DAY GOES ON. ALTHOUGH ANY OF THE STORMS COULD GO SEVERE...THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL...CLOSER TO JET STREAM LEVEL UPPER AIR SUPPORT. WEATHER SPOTTERS ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...ESPECIALLY THE NORTH CENTRAL...SHOULD BE READY FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION. THIS PRODUCT IS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY. LISTEN FOR LATER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. JP MARTIN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 7:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Bottineau, Rolette | 62 min |
| Jul 24, 7:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Stark | 58 min |
| Jul 24, 8:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McHenry, Pierce | 59 min |
| Jul 24, 8:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Pierce | 65 min |
| Jul 24, 8:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McLean | 65 min |
| Jul 24, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Rolette | 49 min |
| Jul 24, 9:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McHenry, Pierce | 57 min |
| Jul 24, 9:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McLean | 63 min |
| Jul 24, 10:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McHenry | 60 min |
| Jul 25, 2:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Kidder | 60 min |
| Jul 25, 2:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Emmons | 56 min |
| Jul 25, 2:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Renville, Ward | 51 min |
| Jul 25, 3:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BIS | Bottineau | 63 min |
| Jul 25, 3:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Logan, McIntosh | 61 min |
| Jul 25, 3:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Stutsman | 43 min |
| Jul 25, 5:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Dickey | 52 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.