Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 13, 1997Nelson County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1997, 7:24 PM CDT for Nelson 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: Jul 13, 1997, 7:24 PM CDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Nelson County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:23 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 13, 7:34 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Tolna, 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 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 228 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 173 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 844 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 140025 RRA
TORFAR
NDC063-140100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
724 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...WESTERN NELSON COUNTY
 
AT 720 PM A PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DEVILS LAKE
OR 4 MILES SOUTH OF TOLNA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 20 MPH. THE CITY OF
TOLNA IS IN THE PATH OF THE 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...SE@EK 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 13, 8:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Nelson	28 min
Jul 13, 8:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Steele	36 min
Jul 13, 8:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Ramsey	39 min
Jul 13, 8:41 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FGF	Ramsey	2 hr
Jul 13, 9:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Grand Forks	32 min
Jul 13, 9:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Grand Forks	31 min
Jul 13, 10:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Pembina	36 min

Nearby

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