Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 194, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 14, 1997Le Sueur County, Rice County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT for Le Sueur County, Rice County, Minnesota. It was in force for 45 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 14, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired: Aug 14, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Le Sueur County, MN, Rice County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:14 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 14, 6:50 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Le Center, MN
Aug 14, 7:00 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Faribault, 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 nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 55 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1284 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

946 
WUUS1 KMSP 142317 RRA
SVRMSP
MNC079-131-150000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
615 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997


* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  LE SUEUR COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  RICE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    LE CENTER
    LONSDALE
    DUNDAS

* AT 615 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE STORMS
  JUST NORTH OF LE CENTER TO LONSDALE...OR 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  FARIBAULT.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS.  STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.


MCBEATH PETERS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 14, 5:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Le Sueur	51 min
Aug 14, 5:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Le Sueur	32 min
Aug 14, 6:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Goodhue	35 min
Aug 14, 6:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Dakota, Rice	38 min
Aug 14, 6:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Goodhue	35 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.