Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 189, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1997, 8:37 PM CDT for Barnes County, North Dakota. It was in force for 38 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
- Aug 31, 1997, 8:37 PM CDT (01:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 31, 1997, 9:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Barnes County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:40 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, 9:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Litchville, 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 31, 4:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 201 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
- 1215 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1935 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 71 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 010138 RRA SVRFAR NDC003-010215- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 837 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...SOUTHWESTERN BARNES COUNTY AT 837 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 14 MILES NORTHWEST OF LITCHVILLE...OR ABOUT 20 MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM SHOULD CROSS HIGHWAY 1...SIX MILES NORTH OF LITCHVILLE AROUND 850 PM. HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER IS THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. RA
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, 3:02 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 3:02 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 300 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 FIRST PERIOD DISCUSSION...TSTRMS HAVE SETTLED DOWN FOR THE TIME BEING AND ARE SLOLY SHFTG TO THE E. ADAP HAS THE LOWEST LI`S AND HIEST MXG RATIOS ACRS CNTRL SD WITH TRAJS FOR ERN ND AND NW MN. H8 ANAL HAS UPSTRM H8 DWPTS OF 13C AND HIR. GRIDDED DATA HAD MID LVL CNVG AND SFC CNVG OVR CNTRL ND THIS AFTN AND SHFTS INTO ERN ND THIS EVE AND NW MN OVRNT AS MOIST AIR CONTS TO MOV N/NE. SATELLITE SHOWING CU FIELD OVR S CNTRL ND. WL GO FOR STRMS TO FIRE IN CNTRL ND AND MOV E THIS EVE. MOS TEMPS LOOK GOOD. THINK LOWS ARND 60 IN BDE, ROX...LWR 60S IN ROX, H@CO, TVF, FSE, BJI, PKD, CKN, GFK, DVL...MID 60S FAR FFM, VLLY CITY. HOPPES
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 8:34 PM CDT, 3 minutes before
NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052-053-010330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 834 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR PARTS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA... THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: TOWNER...CAVALIER...PEMBINA... BENSON...RAMSEY...WALSH...EDDY...NELSON AND GRAND FORKS. A WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM BISMARCK TO JAMESTOWN TO FARGO ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING...PROVIDING THE FOCUS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. AS THE STORMS MOVE EAST ALONG THE WARM FRONT ...LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOS ARE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL HAS ALSO BEEN PRODUCED BY SOME OF THESE STORMS. THEREFORE...THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA COUNTIES: GRIGGS...STEELE...TRAILL... BARNES...CASS...RANSOM...SARGENT AND RICHLAND. NG
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 8:35 PM CDT, 2 minutes before
NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>030-038-039-049-052-053-010330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 834 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR PARTS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA... THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: TOWNER...CAVALIER...PEMBINA... BENSON...RAMSEY...WALSH...EDDY...NELSON AND GRAND FORKS. A WARM FRONT EXTENDS FROM BISMARCK TO JAMESTOWN TO FARGO ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING...PROVIDING THE FOCUS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. AS THE STORMS MOVE EAST ALONG THE WARM FRONT ...LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOS ARE THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS. TORRENTIAL RAINFALL HAS ALSO BEEN PRODUCED BY SOME OF THESE STORMS. THEREFORE...THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA COUNTIES: GRIGGS...STEELE...TRAILL... BARNES...CASS...RANSOM...SARGENT AND RICHLAND. NG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 9:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Eddy | 28 min |
| Aug 31, 10:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Barnes | 30 min |
| Aug 31, 10:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 31 min |
| Aug 31, 11:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cass | 42 min |
| Sep 1, 1:22 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FGF | Barnes, Griggs | 3 hr |
| Sep 1, 1:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 48 min |
| Sep 1, 2:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cass | 47 min |
| Sep 1, 2:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 30 min |
| Sep 1, 2:30 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FGF | Cass | 4 hr |
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.