Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Grand Forks, ND

June 27, 1997Roseau County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 27, 1997, 5:02 PM CDT for Roseau County, Minnesota. It was in force for 28 min. 1 report 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
Jun 27, 1997, 5:02 PM CDT (22:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 27, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Roseau County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 178 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:02 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
Jun 27, 5:19 PM CDTHail 0.75Badger, MN

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
Jun 27, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 186 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 1997-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 1997-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-209 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

854 
WFUS1 KFAR 272211 RRA
TORFAR
MNC135-272230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
502 PM CDT FRI JUN 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
 
   ...NORTHERN ROSEAU COUNTY
 
AT 512 PM CDT SPOTTERS CONTINUE TO REPORT FUNNEL CLOUDS WEST OF ROSEAU.
THE STORM PRODUCING THE FUNNEL CLOUDS WAS JUST WEST OF ROSEASU AND WAS
MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM AND YOU
SHOULD SEEK SHELTER NOW IN YOU LIVE IN ROSEAU.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
KENNEDY
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 27, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau28 min
Jun 27, 4:48 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRoseau27 min
Jun 27, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRoseau33 min
Jun 27, 5:56 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRoseau34 min
Jun 27, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRoseau33 min
Jun 27, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRoseau35 min

Nearby

Tornado 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.