Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 480
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 19, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT for 19 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 19, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 19, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Becker County, MN, Beltrami County, MN, Clay County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Grant County, MN, Hubbard County, MN, Kittson County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Todd County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Wilkin County, MN
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:16 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.
Warnings issued inside it
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19, 5:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Polk | 34 min |
| Jun 19, 6:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Polk | 11 min |
| Jun 19, 7:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 36 min |
The nearest sounding before it
International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 201 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1473 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -4 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 37 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
441 WWUS9 KMKC 192149 SEL0 MKC WW 192149 MNZ000-200300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 480 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 449 PM CDT THU JUN 19 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 515 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST OF WARROAD MINNESOTA TO ALEXANDRIA MINNESOTA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 478...WW 479... DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AHEAD OF STRONG UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS. AIR MASS AHEAD OF THE CONVECTION REMAINS UNSTABLE WITH LIFTED INDEX TO -4. VAD WIND PROFILE SHOWS SUFFICIENT VEERING WITH HEIGHT TO SUPPORT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELL FORMATION. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27045. ...WEISS 485,0950 455,0942 455,0962 485,0972
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 1997Every tornado watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.