Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 127, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 16, 1997Walsh County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1997, 12:33 AM CDT for Walsh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 42 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 16, 1997, 12:33 AM CDT (05:33 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1997, 1:15 AM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Walsh County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:45 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 16, 12:45 AM CDTThunderstorm WindVoss, NDA metal shed was blown down in Voss.

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 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 286 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 1997-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 66 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
66 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 160533 RRA
SVRFAR
NDC099-160615-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1233 AM CDT WED JUL 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...EASTERN WALSH COUNTY
 
AT 1230 AM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF
FOREST RIVER NORTH DAKOTA OR ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LANGDON. THIS
STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL AFFECT
THE TOWNS OF MINTO AND FOREST RIVER BY 1 AM.
 
REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
EWENS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 15, 8:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 8:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
854 PM CDT TUE JUL 15 1997

SVRL STG TSTMS OCCURRING NR THE NW ANGLE.  RPTS FROM SERN MB INDICATE
BRIEF TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL.  MARBLE SIZED HAIL AT ANGLE INLET AT
835 PM LT.  STGEST TSTMS JUST ON THE EDGE OF THE CAP ALG SFC FNT WHICH
HAS SAGGED INTO NERN NODAK.  ISOLD TSTMS DVLPG IN NERN NODAK.  CAPES
FAIRLY STG NR 3000 J/KG AND SOME WK CONVERGENCE ALG FNT. CURRENT FCST OK
FOR NOW BUT WHAT TO DO IF ISOLD TSRMS CONT AFT DARK AS FNT PROGGD TO
SLOLY PUSH S OVRNITE.  FOR NOW BLV TSTMS WL DIE SHORTLY AFT SUNSET.  WL
HOLD OFF ON FCST UPDATE TIL NO LTR THAN 0345Z.

 BELLES

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.