Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 10, 1997Mercer County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 10, 1997, 7:41 PM MDT for Mercer County, North Dakota. It was in force for 34 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 10, 1997, 7:41 PM MDT (01:41 UTC)
Expired
Jul 10, 1997, 8:15 PM MDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Mercer County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 10, 6:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 105 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 1997-07-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4434 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-07-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
4434 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1269 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
176 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 110141 RRA
TORBIS
NDC057-110215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
841 PM CDT (741 PM MDT) THU JUL 10 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT (815 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...MERCER COUNTY
 
AT 838 PM CDT (738 MDT) RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 62 MILES
NORTHWEST OF BISMARCK BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF GOLDEN VALLEY AND ZAP. THERE
WAS ALSO A REPORT OF A FUNNEL WITHIN 100 FEET OF THE GROUND ASSOCIATED
WITH THIS STORM.
 
PERSONS IN THE TOWNS OF ZAP AND BEULAH SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.
 
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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 10, 6:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISDunn64 min
Jul 10, 6:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurke, Mountrail60 min
Jul 10, 7:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean, Mercer60 min
Jul 10, 7:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGrant, Sioux65 min
Jul 10, 7:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMorton54 min
Jul 10, 7:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMountrail, Ward68 min
Jul 10, 8:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau, Renville66 min
Jul 10, 8:15 PM MDTTornado WarningBISWard30 min
Jul 10, 8:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh, Morton65 min
Jul 10, 8:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBottineau, McHenry56 min
Jul 10, 8:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean, Mercer69 min
Jul 10, 8:57 PM MDTTornado WarningBISMcHenry33 min
Jul 10, 9:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISSioux50 min
Jul 10, 9:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcHenry, Pierce40 min
Jul 10, 9:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISEmmons40 min
Jul 10, 10:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISPierce, Rolette46 min
Jul 10, 11:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman44 min
Jul 11, 3:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISRenville, Ward44 min
Jul 11, 3:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurke66 min
Jul 11, 5:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMcLean, Oliver67 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.