Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 17, 1997Sargent County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1997, 7:09 PM CDT for Sargent County, North Dakota. It was in force for 36 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
May 17, 1997, 7:09 PM CDT (00:09 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
36 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 00:12 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
May 17, 7:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Straubville, 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 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 1997-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 590 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
590 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2608 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 180009 RRA
TORFAR
NDC081-180045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
709 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN SARGENT COUNTY
 
AT 707 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES EAST OF LUDDEN OR 70
MILES SOUTH OF VALLEY CITY. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE
TORNADO WILL REACH BRAMPTON AROUND 735 PM CDT.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR UNDER STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET.  COVER YOURSELF
WITH BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS.
 
HOPPES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass25 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.