Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 32, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 31, 1997Barnes County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 31, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT for Barnes County, North Dakota. It was in force for 30 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 31, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT (03:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1997, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Barnes County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 31, 10:10 PM CDTHail 1Litchville, ND
Aug 31, 10:30 PM CDTTornado F0Litchville, ND
Aug 31, 10:40 PM CDTHail 1Kathryn, ND
Aug 31, 10:40 PM CDTThunderstorm WindLeal, NDLarge branches were blown down in Leal.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 31, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 201 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1997-09-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1215 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1997-09-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
1215 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1935 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 010301 RRA
TORFAR
NDC003-010330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1000 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 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 LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN BARNES COUNTY
 
AT 1000 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF
LITCHVILLE...OR ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
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.
 
 
RA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 8:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes38 min
Aug 31, 9:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFEddy28 min
Aug 31, 10:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes31 min
Aug 31, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass42 min
Sep 1, 1:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFBarnes, Griggs3 hr
Sep 1, 1:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes48 min
Sep 1, 2:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass47 min
Sep 1, 2:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes30 min
Sep 1, 2:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFCass4 hr

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.