Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Grand Forks, ND

June 28, 1997Grand Forks County, Steele County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 28, 1997, 12:08 AM CDT for Grand Forks County, Steele County, North Dakota. It was in force for 32 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
Jun 28, 1997, 12:08 AM CDT (05:08 UTC)
Expired
Jun 28, 1997, 12:40 AM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Grand Forks County, ND, Steele County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:08 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
Jun 28, 12:30 AM CDTHail 2.5Hatton, ND
Jun 28, 12:40 AM CDTHail 1Golden Lake, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 27, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 256 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1997-06-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2650 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1997-06-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2650 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2377 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

907 
WFUS1 KFAR 280509
TORFAR
NDC035-091-280545-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1208 AM CDT SAT JUN 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1240 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN GRAND FORKS COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...NORTHERN STEELE COUNTY
 
AT 1208 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF NORTHWEST OR
40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. RED
WILLOW LAKE AND BINFORD ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO.
 
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.
 
RA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 27, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson25 min
Jun 27, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson35 min
Jun 27, 10:05 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFNelson25 min
Jun 27, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks34 min
Jun 27, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks38 min
Jun 27, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTraill40 min
Jun 27, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson30 min
Jun 27, 11:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks27 min
Jun 27, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson25 min
Jun 27, 11:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTraill36 min
Jun 28, 12:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSteele33 min
Jun 28, 1:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSteele32 min
Jun 28, 8:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom27 min
Jun 28, 8:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom28 min
Jun 28, 9:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom, Sargent38 min
Jun 28, 10:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland, Sargent31 min
Jun 28, 11:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland28 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.