Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 1, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT for Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 38 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
- Jul 1, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 1, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk County, MN
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 5:45 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Mentor, MN | |
| Jul 1, 6:07 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Mentor, MN |
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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 343 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1775 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 352 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 012239 RRA TORFAR MNC119-012315- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 537 PM CDT TUE JUL 1 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA ...EASTERN POLK COUNTY AT 535 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 2 MILES SOUTH OF MENTOR OR 43 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GRAND FORKS. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE ERSKINE AND OAK LAKE. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...MOVE INTO A STRONG BUILDING. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES AND STAYB AWAY FROM WINDOWS. KENNEDY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 8:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Red Lake | 25 min |
| Jul 1, 3:40 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FGF | Polk | 2 hr |
| Jul 1, 3:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Lake of the Woods | 25 min |
| Jul 1, 4:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Lake of the Woods | 46 min |
| Jul 1, 6:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Polk | 14 min |
| Jul 1, 6:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Polk | 30 min |
| Jul 1, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Red Lake | 17 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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.