Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Twin Cities, MN

September 18, 1997Douglas County, Todd County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 1997, 6:04 PM CDT for Douglas County, Todd County, Minnesota. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Sep 18, 1997, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired: Sep 18, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Douglas County, MN, Todd County, MN

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Sep 18, 5:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 178 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: 228 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -404 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1391 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 477 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 490 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 182307 RRA
TORMSP
MNC041-153-182330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
604 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1997


* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  SOUTHERN TODD COUNTY - CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    NELSON
    OOSAKIS
    WEST UNION
    LAKE OSAKIS

* AT 604 PM CDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED MANY FUNNEL CLOUDS FROM THE
  SOUTH OF ALEXANDRIA...TO 6 MILES EAST OF ALEXANDRIA.  RADAR ALSO
  INDICATED ROTATING STORMS.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 20 MPH.

  GO TO THE BASEMENT NOW.

TDK


&

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 18, 5:45 PM CDT, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...ADDITION INFORMATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MINNESOTA
545 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0525 PM    CAMP RIPLEY JCT           MN   TORNADO  F0
09/18/97   MORRISON                       PATH 1/2 MILE  100 YARD
                                                          WIDE
0615 PM    1NE LASTRUP               MN   TORNADO  STRONG F3
09/18/97   MORRISON                       *** 2 INJ ***
                                          SEVERAL BUILDINGS DAMAGED
                                          TORNADO TRACK EAST FOR
                                          ABOUT 17 MILES.  1/4 TO 1/3
                                          WIDE.

09/18/97   4NNE ROYALTON             MN   TORNADO  STRONG F2
           MORRISON                       PATH LENGTH 8 MI 300 YARD
                                          WIDE
0648 PM    WAHKON                    MN   2.20 INCH HAIL
09/18/97   MILLE LACS

0620 PM    5N HILLMAN                MN   3.00 INCH HAIL
09/18/97   MORRISON

THESE REPORTS WERE REPORTED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FIELD
REPRESENTATIVE THIS EVENING AFTER REVIEWING STORM DAMAGE.  THIS
REPORT IS NOT COMPLETE. WE HOPE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON
SURVEY DAMAGE FROM THURSDAY EVENING STORMS.

JVM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 18, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Morrison	32 min
Sep 18, 5:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Morrison	51 min
Sep 18, 5:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs	67 min
Sep 18, 6:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs, Morrison	52 min
Sep 18, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Kanabec	66 min
Sep 18, 6:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Kanabec	60 min
Sep 18, 6:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Morrison, Todd	41 min
Sep 18, 6:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Mille Lacs	33 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.