Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 182, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 2, 1997Benton County, Sherburne County, Stearns County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1997, 8:29 PM CDT for Benton County, Sherburne County, Stearns County, Minnesota. It was in force for 61 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, 8:29 PM CDT (01:29 UTC)
Expired: Aug 2, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Benton County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Stearns County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:31 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, 8:35 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Clear Lake, MN	Large trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
Aug 2, 8:40 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Sauk Rapids, MN	Large tree limbs down. Estimated windspeed.
Aug 2, 8:47 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Clear Lake, MN	Large trees blown down onto highway 24. Estimated windspeed.
Aug 2, 8:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	St Cloud, MN	Large trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.

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, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 90 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: 1589 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 100 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

396 
WUUS1 KMSP 030130 RRA
SVRMSP
MNC009-141-145-030230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
829 PM CDT SAT AUG 2 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  BENTON COUNTY - CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  SHERBURNE COUNTY - CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  EASTERN STEARNS COUNTY - CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    ST. CLOUD
    FOLEY
    SANTIAGO
    CLEAR LAKE

* AT 830 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH LARGE
  HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS NEAR ST. CLOUD.  THE STORM WAS MOVING
  EAST-NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...WITH LARGE HAIL.  STAY INDOORS AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.


HOWIESON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 2, 7:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Todd	49 min
Aug 2, 7:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Pope	33 min
Aug 2, 7:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Swift	61 min
Aug 2, 8:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs	52 min
Aug 2, 8:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Kandiyohi, Pope	38 min
Aug 2, 8:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Wright	34 min
Aug 2, 9:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Sherburne	35 min
Aug 2, 9:20 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MPX	Anoka, Hennepin	55 min
Aug 2, 9:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Hennepin	55 min
Aug 2, 9:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Meeker, Wright	46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.