Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 26, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1997, 8:49 PM CDT for Walsh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 26 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
- Aug 2, 1997, 8:49 PM CDT (01:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 2, 1997, 9:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 26 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Walsh County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:52 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 8:50 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Adams, ND | A strong wind broke several windows and blew down several 130 foot tall trees. The strong wind pushed large round hay bales 400 feet across a field. |
| Aug 2, 8:50 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Adams, 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, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 286 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
- 296 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -113 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2349 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 72 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 124 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 030149 RRA TORFAR NDC099-030215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 849 PM CDT SAT AUG 2 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...WESTERN WALSH COUNTY AT 847 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF ADAMS...OR 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF DEVILS LAKE. THE STORM PRODUCING THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH...AND WILL BE APPROACHING THE TOWN OF FORDVILLE BY 905 PM . 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. STRAGER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 7:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 38 min |
| Aug 2, 7:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cavalier | 33 min |
| Aug 2, 7:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Barnes | 31 min |
| Aug 2, 8:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Cass | 36 min |
| Aug 2, 8:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Walsh | 29 min |
| Aug 2, 9:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Grand Forks, Nelson | 52 min |
| Aug 2, 9:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Griggs | 33 min |
| Aug 2, 9:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Grand Forks | 38 min |
| Aug 2, 10:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Steele | 34 min |
| Aug 2, 10:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Traill | 25 min |
| Aug 2, 10:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Grand Forks | 33 min |
| Aug 3, 5:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Grand Forks | 47 min |
| Aug 3, 5:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Grand Forks | 31 min |
| Aug 3, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Towner | 41 min |
| Aug 3, 6:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Grand Forks | 25 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.