Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 5, 1997Sheridan County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 5, 1997, 4:49 PM CDT for Sheridan County, North Dakota. It was in force for 41 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
Aug 5, 1997, 4:49 PM CDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Sheridan County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:49 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1997-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1997-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1463 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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.

913 
WFUS1 KBIS 052151 RRA
TORBIS
NDC083-052230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
449 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SHERIDAN COUNTY
 
AT 445 PM CDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS LOCATED 10
MILES NORTHWEST OF MCCLUSKY OR 55 MILES NORTH OF BISMARCK. THE STORM WAS
MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. TOWNS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM
INCLUDE MCCLUSKY...DENHOFF AND GOODRICH.
 
THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF THIS FUNNEL CLOUD REACHING THE GROUND FROM
OBSERVERS.
 
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 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/HINTZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISWilliams62 min
Aug 5, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBISBurleigh, McLean33 min
Aug 5, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningBISMorton33 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.