Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 2, 1997Grand Forks County, Nelson County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1997, 9:08 PM CDT for Grand Forks County, Nelson County, North Dakota. It was in force for 52 min. 4 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, 9:08 PM CDT (02:08 UTC)
Expired: Aug 2, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Grand Forks County, ND, Nelson County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:09 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, 9:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Dahlen, ND	Strong wind blew several trees down.
Aug 2, 9:37 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Mc Canna, ND	The wind blew several cars off the road.
Aug 2, 10:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Arvilla, ND	Wind speed was estimated.
Aug 2, 10:04 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 76	(Rdr)Grand Forks Afb, 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, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 252 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 030209 RRA
TORFAR
NDC035-063-030300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
908 PM CDT SAT AUG 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...WESTERN GRAND FORKS COUNTY...NORTHEASTERN NELSON COUNTY
 
AT 907 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTH OF
THE TOWN OF ADAMS...OR 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS. THE STORM
PRODUCING THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL
BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF DAHLEN...ORR...AND MCCANNA.
 
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, 8:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Walsh	26 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, 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.