Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Bismarck, ND

June 22, 1997Dunn County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 22, 1997, 9:25 PM MDT for Dunn County, North Dakota. It was in force for 50 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: Jun 22, 1997, 9:25 PM MDT (03:25 UTC)
Expired: Jun 22, 1997, 10:15 PM MDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Dunn County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:28 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 22, 9:56 PM MDT	Hail 1	Manning, ND
Jun 22, 10:05 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Dunn Center, ND

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 22, 3:30 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr
Jun 22, 3:30 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 159 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 705 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -269 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 240 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 353 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

519 
WFUS1 KBIS 230323 RRA
TORBIS
NDC025-230415-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1025 PM CDT (925 PM MDT) SUN JUN 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT (1015 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN DUNN COUNTY
 
AT 920 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 18
MILES NORTHWEST OF DICKINSON OR 9 MILES EAST OF FAIRFIELD. THE STORM
PRODUCING THE TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE TORNADO IS
EXPECTED TO AFFECT MAINLY THE RURAL AREAS OF SOUTHWESTERN DUNN COUNTY.
 
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.
 
 
HINTZ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 22, 6:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie	64 min
Jun 22, 7:51 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Foster	69 min
Jun 22, 8:44 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie	61 min
Jun 22, 8:51 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Golden Valley	69 min
Jun 22, 9:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Slope	45 min
Jun 22, 9:14 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Billings, Dunn	61 min
Jun 22, 9:34 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Billings	41 min
Jun 22, 9:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mercer	69 min
Jun 22, 10:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean	64 min

Nearby

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