Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 185, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1997, 12:14 PM CDT for Barnes County, Griggs County, North Dakota. It was in force for 31 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 31, 1997, 12:14 PM CDT (17:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 31, 1997, 12:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Barnes County, ND, Griggs County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:17 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 31, 12:20 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Wimbledon, ND | |
| Aug 31, 12:54 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Dazey, 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 nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 199 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
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -416 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1991 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 284 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 333 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 311714 RRA SVRFAR NDC003-039-311745- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 1214 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...NORTHERN BARNES COUNTY...SOUTHERN GRIGGS COUNTY AT 1213 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 1 MILE NORTH OF DAZEY...OR 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF VALLEY CITY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM WILL REACH NEAR SIBLEY BY 1240 PM. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...MOVE INTO A STRONG BUILDING. DON'T USE TE LEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. &
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 31, 10:32 AM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 10:32 AM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 1031 AM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 FIRST PERIOD DISCUSSION...UPR LVL RIDGE IN SRN PLNS FCST TO BUILD A LITTLE WHILE UPR TROF OVR CANADA WL MOV E. NET EFFECT WILL BE TO INTENSIFY JET STRM ACRS SRN CANADA AND PLACE ERN ND AND NW MN IN RRQ OF JET AS PER SPC DISC. WAA KICKING IN WITH SNDGS SHOWING MOIST LYR MOVG IN BTWN 600-800 HPA. QUICK LOOK AT GRIDDED DATA SHOWS SPEED CNVG IN BNDRY LYR AND CNVG AT MID LVLS WITH LITTLE DWPT DEPRESSIONS. 88D HAS TSTRMS DEVELOPING NEAR EDDY CNTY AND THEN MOVING E. SATELLITE HAS SHOWS CLDS AND STRMS DEVELOPING OVR NE ND AND SPREADING E INTO NW MN. WL UPDATE ZONES. HOPPES
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 6:45 AM CDT, 5 hours 29 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052-053-011200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 645 AM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT... SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE RED RIVER VALLEY REGION TODAY IN ADVANCE OF A DEVELOPING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER EASTERN MONTANA. THIS SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BRING MOIST...UNSTABLE AIR BACK TO THE REGION DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. ALTHOUGH THE ATMOSPHERE HAS DESTABILIZED ENOUGH TO SUPPORT AN ISOLATED SHOWER OVER PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS MORNING... THE MAJORITY OF ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE EVENING HOURS WHEN AN UPPER-LEVEL JET WILL BE MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN MANITOBA. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL MOST LIKELY DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA BY EARLY THIS EVENING...SPREADING EASTWARD ACROSS THE RED RIVER INTO NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS ARE EXPECTED TO BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. AN UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. STRAGER
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 6:46 AM CDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052-053-011200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 645 AM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT... SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE RED RIVER VALLEY REGION TODAY IN ADVANCE OF A DEVELOPING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER EASTERN MONTANA. THIS SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL BRING MOIST...UNSTABLE AIR BACK TO THE REGION DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. ALTHOUGH THE ATMOSPHERE HAS DESTABILIZED ENOUGH TO SUPPORT AN ISOLATED SHOWER OVER PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS MORNING... THE MAJORITY OF ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE EVENING HOURS WHEN AN UPPER-LEVEL JET WILL BE MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN MANITOBA. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL MOST LIKELY DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA BY EARLY THIS EVENING...SPREADING EASTWARD ACROSS THE RED RIVER INTO NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS ARE EXPECTED TO BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. AN UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AS CONDITIONS WARRANT. STRAGER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 12:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 30 min |
| Aug 31, 5:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Griggs | 28 min |
| Aug 31, 6:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 36 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.