Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 137, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 25, 1997Sargent County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 25, 1997, 7:02 PM CDT for Sargent County, North Dakota. It was in force for 28 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 25, 1997, 7:02 PM CDT (00:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Sargent County, ND

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:03 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 25, 7:38 PM CDTThunderstorm WindHavana, NDA grain bin was damaged in the strong wind.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 25, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 147 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 1997-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3331 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 1997-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 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
3331 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1007 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 260006
SVRFAR
NDC081-260030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
702 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA

   ...SARGENT COUNTY

AT 658 PM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 12 MILES
NORTHEAST OF FORMAN TO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FORMAN OR ABOUT 40 TO 45
MILES WEST OF WAHPETON. THESE STORMS CONTINUED EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL AFFECT THE MILNOR AND CAYUGA AREAS THROUGH 730 PM CDT.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUbNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
EWENS

...CORRECTED WARNING TO COMPLETE GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCE...

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 25, 2:56 PM CDT, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 2:56 PM CDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
255 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997

PROBLEM FOR FIRST PERIOD IS PCPN. TSRA ALREADY IN WESTERN PART OF CWFA
MOVINMG NE WITH KMVX 88D ESTIMATING 1.4 INCHES IN SOUTHERN BENSON
COUNTY. 18Z SFC ANALYSIS HAS STATIONARY FRONT SLIGHTLY FURTHER EAST
WITH NUMEROUS LEFTOVER BOUNDARIES. NGM CONTINUES TO HAVE THE BEST
HANDLE ON SITUATION WITH UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE AND NE-SW ORIENTED
THETA-E RIDGE. LOOKS LIKE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS IN THE DVL
AREA. THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO A GOOD POSSIBILITY. FLASH
FLOOD GUIDANCE IN DVL AREA RANGES FROM 1 INCH TO UNDER 2 INCHES IN THREE
HOURS. SUGGEST STRONGLY CONSIDER FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR DVL AREA.

SUGGESTIONS:
DVL/NELSON/GRIGGS/BARNES...GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY
SEVERE WITH HEAVY RAIN. LOW NEAR 65.
GFK/FAR...A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW OF 65 TO 70.
ROX/TVF/BJI...A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW OF 65 TO 70.
DTL/FFM...A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. LOW IN THE UPPER 60S.

GSF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 25, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSargent15 min
Jul 26, 3:47 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass28 min
Jul 26, 4:19 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass26 min

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.