Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 181, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 5, 1997Richland County, North Dakota; Wilkin County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1997, 8:10 PM CDT for Richland County, North Dakota; Wilkin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 35 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 5, 1997, 8:10 PM CDT (01:10 UTC)
Expired: Aug 5, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Wilkin County, MN, Richland County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:13 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 5, 8:10 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Christine, ND
Aug 5, 8:30 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Barney, 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 5, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 205 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: 39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1797 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 107 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 KFAR 060111 RRA
SVRFAR
MNC167-NDC077-060145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
810 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...WILKIN COUNTY
 
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...RICHLAND COUNTY
 
AT 810 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN COLFAX
AND MCLEOD...OR 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF WAHPETON...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST
AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED WIND SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND
WILL AFFECT THE TOWNS OF MOORETON...MANTADOR...WAHPETON AND BRECKENRIDGE 
REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
 
 
 
&

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 5, 2:50 PM CDT, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 2:50 PM CDT, 5 hours 20 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
250 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

FCST CONCERN WILL BE SVR TSRA DEVELOPMENT INTO EARLY PART OF PERIOD.
SFC LOW HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS NE ND/S MB BORDER WITH TRAILING COLD FRONT
ACROSS NORTH PART OF STATE. ALL MORNING AND INTO AFTERNOON HOURS SCT
TSRA HAVE OCCURRED MAINLY ALONG N/S ORIENTED THERMAL BOUNDARY OVR
NORTHERN MN. WITH RAIN AND CLOUD COOLED AIR TEMPS ACROSS PTNS OF N MN
REMAIN GENERALLY IN THE 60S TO AROUND 70 DEGREES. ALTHOUGH A SEVERE
THREAT CONT FOR NW MN BELIEVE BEST AREA HAS SHIFTED WESTWARD TO INCLUDE
MOST OF ND. ALTHOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS MARGINAL 60-65 DEGREE
DEWPOINTS EXIST ACROSS N CENTRAL ND INTO S MB NEAR SFC LOW. PLENTY OF
SOLAR HAS RISEN TEMPS INTO THE UPPER 70S AND 80S ACROSS ND. VERTICAL
SHEAR PROFILE ALSO CONDUSIVE FOR SVR WX. FROM PROGGED FAR SOUNDING TSRA
SHOULD TRACK SE AROUND 30KT. TSRA SHOULD MOVE OUT OF S PTN OF REGION BY
MID FOLLOWED BY DECREASING CLDS. MOS TEMPS FROM MID 50S TO AROUND 60
SEEM REASONABLE. WITH WK SFC FLOW AND CLEARING LATE AREAS OF FOG PSBL.
FOR DVL...THIS EVENING...SCT TSRA FEW PSBL SEVERE.
          TONIGHT...DEC CLDS. LOW MID 50S N 5 TO 10.
GFK...THIS EVENING...SCT TSRA FEW PSBL SEVERE.
      TONIGHT...DEC CLDS. LOW MID 50S. LT N WIND.
FAR...THIS EVENING...SCT TSRA FEW PSBL SEVERE.
      TONIGHT...DEC CLDS. LOW MID 50S. LT N WND.
MSP WRK ZONES LOOK OK.
VOELKER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 6:20 PM CDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
620 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0315 PM    BACKOO                   ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   PEMBINA                         TREE DAMAGE

0443 PM    GRAND FORKS              ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   GRAND FORKS

0454 PM    INSKTER                  ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   GRAND FORKS

0510 PM    4W INKSTER               ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   GRAND FORKS

Local storm report, Aug 5, 6:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
620 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0315 PM    BACKOO                   ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   PEMBINA                         TREE DAMAGE

0443 PM    GRAND FORKS              ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   GRAND FORKS

0454 PM    INSKTER                  ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   GRAND FORKS

0510 PM    4W INKSTER               ND     0.75 INCH HAIL
08/05/97   GRAND FORKS

Local storm report, Aug 5, 7:13 PM CDT, 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
715 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0640 PM    PAGE                     ND     THUNDERSTORM WIND
08/05/97   CASS                            TREES DOWN AND GARAGE
                                           COLLAPSED

Local storm report, Aug 5, 7:15 PM CDT, 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
715 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0640 PM    PAGE                     ND     THUNDERSTORM WIND
08/05/97   CASS                            TREES DOWN AND GARAGE
                                           COLLAPSED

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 5, 7:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Cass	42 min
Aug 5, 7:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Ransom, Richland	34 min
Aug 5, 8:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Richland	16 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1997 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1997 Every 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.