Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 30, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 5, 1997, 7:18 PM CDT for Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 42 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 5, 1997, 7:18 PM CDT (00:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 5, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 42 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 00:20 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 7:34 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | West Fargo, ND | Wind speed was estimated. |
| Aug 5, 7:47 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Leonard, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 4:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -162 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1797 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 14 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 107 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 060018 RRA TORFAR NDC017-060100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 718 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 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 SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA ...SOUTHERN CASS COUNTY AT 720 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR CASSELTON...OR 20 MILES WEST OF FARGO. THIS TORNADO WILL AFFECT THE TOWNS OF DURBIN AND CASSELTON. FARGO AND MOORHEAD ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING. 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED AT CASSELTON AT 717 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. &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 7:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Ransom, Richland | 34 min |
| Aug 5, 8:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Richland | 35 min |
| Aug 5, 8:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Richland | 16 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.