Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 16, NWS La Crosse, WI

June 20, 1998Dodge County, Mower County, Minnesota

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1998, 1:13 PM CDT for Dodge County, Mower County, Minnesota. It was in force for 47 min. 5 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
Jun 20, 1998, 1:13 PM CDT (18:13 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1998, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dodge County, MN, Mower County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:17 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
Jun 20, 1:25 PM CDTHail 1.5Austin, MN
Jun 20, 1:36 PM CDTHail 1.5Austin, MN
Jun 20, 1:39 PM CDTHail 0.75Waltham, MN
Jun 20, 1:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Sargeant, MN
Jun 20, 1:47 PM CDTHail 1.25Waltham, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 20, 9:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 128 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 1998-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 18 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 1998-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 416 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-384 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2049 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
416 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
589 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

870 
WFUS1 KLSE 201816 RRA
TORLSE
MNC039-099-201900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
113 PM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN DODGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA
  MOWER COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 200 PM CDT

* AT 115 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH OF BLOOMING PRAIRIE... MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  HAYFIELD AROUND 125 PM

A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR. GO TO THE BASEMENT IF A BASEMENT
IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

TMC/KRC

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 12:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXDodge, Mower77 min
Jun 20, 1:46 PM CDTTornado WarningARXFillmore, Olmsted64 min
Jun 20, 1:56 PM CDTTornado WarningARXMower44 min
Jun 20, 2:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXMower2 hr
Jun 20, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXMower30 min
Jun 20, 2:49 PM CDTTornado WarningARXFillmore61 min
Jun 20, 3:25 PM CDTTornado WarningARXFillmore60 min
Jun 20, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXHouston60 min
Jun 20, 4:25 PM CDTTornado WarningARXHouston60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.