Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 28, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1997, 9:52 PM CDT for Grand Forks County, North Dakota; Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 38 min. 3 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, 9:52 PM CDT (02:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 2, 1997, 10:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Polk County, MN, Grand Forks County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:56 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, 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 | |
| Aug 2, 10:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Grand Forks, ND | Wind speed was estimated. |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 9:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 281 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
- 187 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -48 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1946 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -13 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 71 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 030252 RRA TORFAR MNC119-NDC035-030330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 952 PM CDT SAT AUG 2 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA ...WESTERN POLK COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...EASTERN GRAND FORKS COUNTY AT 950 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO LOCATED NEAR THE TOWN OF HONEYFORD...OR 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH...AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF ARVILLA...EMERADO...AND THE GREATER GRAND FORKS AREA REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. 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, 9:08 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, 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 |
| Aug 2, 8:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Clay | 40 min |
| Aug 2, 9:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Becker | 47 min |
| Aug 3, 4:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 27 min |
| Aug 3, 4:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 31 min |
| Aug 3, 5:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Clearwater | 45 min |
| Aug 3, 6:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 41 min |
| Aug 3, 6:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Hubbard | 47 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1997Tornado 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.