Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 32, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 14, 1997Dakota County, Rice County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 14, 1997, 6:37 PM CDT for Dakota County, Rice County, Minnesota. It was in force for 38 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, 6:37 PM CDT (23:37 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1997, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dakota County, MN, Rice County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:39 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
Aug 14, 7:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Faribault, MN
Aug 14, 7:11 PM CDTHail 1.75Little Chicago, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 50 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 1997-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
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.

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 142339 RRA
TORMSP
MNC037-131-150015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
637 PM CDT THU AUG 14 1997


* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN DAKOTA COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  NORTHERN RICE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    WEBSTER
    CASTLE ROCK
    NORTHFIELD
    RANDOLPH

* AT 638 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST
  SOUTHWEST OF WEBSTER...OR ABOUT 30 MILES NORTH OF FARIBAULT.
  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

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

MCBEATH PETERS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLe Sueur51 min
Aug 14, 5:43 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXLe Sueur32 min
Aug 14, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLe Sueur, Rice45 min
Aug 14, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXGoodhue35 min
Aug 14, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXGoodhue35 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.