Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 147, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1997, 6:25 PM CDT for Richland 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
- Aug 2, 1997, 6:25 PM CDT (23:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 2, 1997, 7:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Richland County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 6:34 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Barney, ND | |
| Aug 2, 6:50 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Mooreton, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 4:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 189 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1632 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -142 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1299 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 98 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 126 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 022331 SVRFAR NDC077-030015- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 625 PM CDT SAT AUG 2 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...RICHLAND COUNTY AT 625 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES WEST OF WAHPETON OR JUST WEST OF WYNDMERE. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE WYNDMERE. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. GSF
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 Aug 2, 2:50 PM CDT, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 2:50 PM CDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 250 PM CDT SAT AUG 02 1997 BROAD WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WITH ASSORTED WEAK BOUNDARIES MAKE FOR DIFFICULT DECISIONS ON BEST CHANCES FOR TSRA FROM LATE AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ATTM FAVORED AREA APPEARS TO BE SE ND...E SD INTO WEST CENTRAL MN. GREATEST INSTABILITY ACROSS EASTERN SD WITH ADAP LIS TO -12 WITH WK CAP. MODIFIED ABR 12Z SOUNDING INDICATING CAPES NEAR 4000 J/KG WITH PWATS APPROACHING 1.5 INCHES. APPROACHING SHORTWAVE ENERGY AND ADDITIONAL LIFT FROM JET ALONG WITH BOUNDARIES LEFT OVER FROM AM CONVECTION OVR NE SD...SE ND INTO WEST CENTRAL MN SHOULD MAKE UP FOR ANY WK SURFACE FRONTAL FORCING. ALSO H8 AND BOUNDARY LAYER MOIST CONVERGENCE...FRONTOGENETIC AND QG FORCING FAVOR THIS AREA. FROM AREA TIME SECTIONS MAIN UPWARD MOTION CONTINUES TIL AROUND 06Z AS MAIN TSRA ACTION SHIFTS SOUTH AND EAST. OTHERWISE WEAK E-W BOUNDARY PROGGED TO CONTINUE TO SAG SOUTHWARD. DEWPOINTS ACROSS SOUTHERN MB CONTINUE IN THE LOW TO MID 60S SO OVERNIGHT LOWS IN MOS RANGES SEEM OK. WITH WK SURFACE FEATURES WINDS SHOULD REMAIN LIGHT. IF CLEARING DOES TAKE PLACE LATE TONIGHT FOG MAY BE A CONCERN BUT HARD TO PIN DOWN ATTM AND WILL BRIEF NEXT SHIFT. DVL...PC. CHC OF TSRA. FEW PSBL SEVERE THIS EVENING. (CONFIDENCE LOW HERE). LOW LOW 60S. LT WIND. GFK...PC. CHC OF TSRA...FEW PSBL SEVERE THIS EVENING. (LOW CONFIDENCE HERE TOO IF SOUTHERN STORMS TAKE OFF). LOW 60 TO 65. LT WIND. FAR...PC CHC OF TSRA...FEW PSBL SEVERE THIS EVENING. LOW 60 TO 65. LT WND. ROX/BDE/TVF/BJI PC. CHC OF TSRA. SEVERE MARGINAL. LOW AROUND 60. LT WIND. DTL/PKD/FFM...PC. GOOD CHC OF TSRA. PSBL SVR THIS EVENING. LOW 60 TO 65. LT WIND. IF USING POPS...SHOULD BE HIGHEST ACROSS THE SOUTH. VOELKER
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 1:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 40 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052-053-031200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 145 PM CDT SAT AUG 02 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. WEAK OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM MORNING THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH MOIST ...UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE AND AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL LIKELY CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. VERY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THAT THE MOST FAVORABLE AREA FOR SEVERE STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. VOELKER
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 1:58 PM CDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052-053-031200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 145 PM CDT SAT AUG 02 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. WEAK OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM MORNING THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH MOIST ...UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE AND AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL LIKELY CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT. VERY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGE R STORMS. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THAT THE MOST FAVORABLE AREA FOR SEVERE STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE OVER SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. VOELKER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 4:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Sargent | 34 min |
| Aug 2, 5:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Sargent | 39 min |
| Aug 2, 6:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 33 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.