Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 13, 1997Scott County, Sibley County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT for Scott County, Sibley County, Minnesota. It was in force for 29 min. 8 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 13, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 1997, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Scott County, MN, Sibley County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:46 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
Jul 13, 7:52 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Belle Plaine, MN	Trees blown down.
Jul 13, 7:53 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Henderson, MN	Large tree sheared in half. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 13, 7:56 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Jordan, MN
Jul 13, 7:58 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Belle Plaine, MN	Trees blown down. Tree damaged extended to Blakeley. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 13, 8:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 65	Shakopee, MN	Large trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
Jul 13, 8:15 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Shakopee, MN
Jul 13, 8:18 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Savage, MN
Jul 13, 8:18 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Savage, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 13, 4:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr
Jul 13, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 358 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: 343 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1829 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -21 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 140048 RRA
TORMSP
MNC139-143-140115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
746 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EXTREME WESTERN SCOTT COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  EASTERN SIBLEY COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    GREEN ISLE
    BLAKLEY
    BELLE PLAINE

* AT 745 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES
  WEST OF BLAKLEY...OR 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MINNEAPOLIS.  THE
  STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. AT 745 PM...60 TO 70 MPH
  WINDS WERE REPORTED IN BLAKLEY.

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

MILLER
 

&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 13, 7:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Scott	52 min
Jul 13, 7:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Dakota, Hennepin	42 min
Jul 13, 7:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Carver	42 min
Jul 13, 8:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Ramsey, Washington	58 min
Jul 13, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Rice, Steele, Waseca	59 min
Jul 13, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Freeborn	59 min
Jul 13, 8:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Dakota, Hennepin	44 min
Jul 13, 9:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Goodhue	49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.