Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 26, 1997Cass County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 26, 1997, 4:19 PM CDT for Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 26, 1997, 4:19 PM CDT (21:19 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Cass County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 243 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 36 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -96 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
36 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-205 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1098 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
450 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 262118
TORFAR
NDC017-262145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
419 PM CDT SAT JUL 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...CASS COUNTY
 
AT 415 RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 5 MILES NORTH
OF MOORHEAD TO 5 MILES NORTH OF FELTON...OR 24 MILES NORTHEAST OF FARGO.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS
ARE FELTON AND KROGNES.
 
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.
 
KENNEDY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 25, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSargent28 min
Jul 25, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSargent15 min
Jul 26, 3:47 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass28 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.