Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 1, 1997Wright County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Jul 1, 1997, 6:28 PM CDT for Wright County, Minnesota. It was in force for 32 min. 16 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
Jul 1, 1997, 6:28 PM CDT (23:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Wright County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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
Jul 1, 6:43 PM CDTTornado F3Howard Lake, MNHouse completely destroyed on west side of Birch Lake.
Jul 1, 6:43 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Knapp, MNBarn destroyed. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 6:43 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Rice Lake, MNBarn collapse killing seven cows. Silo blown over. Roof damage to farmhouse. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 6:43 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Cokato, MNBarn collapse. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 6:43 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Cokato, MNEight grain bins destroyed. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 6:44 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Cokato, MNRoof damage. Semitrailer blown over. Church steeple blown over. Township hall sustained heavy damage including roof blown off and wall collapse. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 6:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Cokato, MNFarm building blown down. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 6:46 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Cokato, MNTurkey barn destroyed. About 4,000 turkeys lost.
Jul 1, 6:58 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Annandale, MNLarge tree blown down. Estimated windspeed and time.
Jul 1, 7:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Howard Lake, MNTree blown onto house. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 1, 7:00 PM CDTTornado F1Waverly, MNDamage path in the town of Waverly was 1 block wide by 7 blocks long. Garages and barns blown down. Roofs ripped off.
Jul 1, 7:05 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Clearwater, MNWindows blown in at apartment building. Trees down.
Jul 1, 7:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 90Maple Lake, MNThree airplanes and two hangars destroyed at Maple Lake airport. Eight foot silo blown onto barn killing 18 cows and 6 steers. Farmstead damage estimated at $150,000. Numerous trees down in town. Roof damage to senior citizen apartment building.
Jul 1, 7:10 PM CDTTornado F2Monticello, MNTwo tornadoes converged on the Prairie Acres housing development 1 south of Monticello at about the same time. Extensive damage in area.
Jul 1, 7:10 PM CDTTornado F2Monticello, MN
Jul 1, 7:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Buffalo, MNMobile home cut in half by fallen tree. One aircraft overturned at local airport. High school gymnasium lost part of its roof. 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 1, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 46 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1531 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1997-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1531 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
923 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 012328 RRA
TORMSP
MNC171-020000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
628 PM CDT TUE JUL 1 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  WRIGHT COUNTY - CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    COKATO
    FRENCH LAKE
    ANNANDALE
    MAPLE LAKE

* AT 625 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 25
  MILES NORTH OF HUTCHINSON...OR ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF COKATO.  THE
  STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

TDK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLac qui Parle32 min
Jul 1, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle, Swift44 min
Jul 1, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope, Swift63 min
Jul 1, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRenville57 min
Jul 1, 5:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa56 min
Jul 1, 5:17 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXRenville43 min
Jul 1, 5:23 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXChippewa, Kandiyohi37 min
Jul 1, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMeeker56 min
Jul 1, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi29 min
Jul 1, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRenville50 min
Jul 1, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod55 min
Jul 1, 6:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStearns51 min
Jul 1, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXMeeker36 min
Jul 1, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Sherburne49 min
Jul 1, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXWright35 min
Jul 1, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver, Sibley62 min
Jul 1, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXHennepin62 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.