Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Bismarck, ND

May 17, 1998McHenry County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1998, 7:50 PM CDT for McHenry County, North Dakota. It was in force for 60 min. 4 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: May 17, 1998, 7:50 PM CDT (00:50 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1998, 8:50 PM CDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties

County McHenry County, ND

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 17, 8:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Upham, ND	New machine shop destroyed, equipment in shop OK.
May 17, 8:20 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Balfour, ND	Brief touch down reported by deputy.
May 17, 8:25 PM CDT	Hail 2.5	Drake, ND
May 17, 8:50 PM CDT	Hail 2	Drake, ND

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
May 17, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 163 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: 493 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2753 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

881 
WUUS1 KBIS 180053 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC049-180150-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
750 PM CDT SUN MAY 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MCHENRY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 850 PM CDT

* AT 749 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MINOT OR NEAR THE TOWN
  OF BERGEN... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BERGEN AT 750 PM AND KARLSRUHE AT 810 PM CDT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

LM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 7:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Ward	45 min
May 17, 7:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bottineau, McHenry	63 min
May 17, 8:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	McHenry	47 min
May 17, 8:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bottineau	32 min
May 17, 8:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Pierce	61 min
May 17, 8:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Pierce	47 min
May 17, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Rolette	62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.