Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 48, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 5, 1998Divide County, Williams County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1998, 9:52 PM CDT for Divide County, Williams County, North Dakota. It was in force for 58 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: Jul 5, 1998, 9:52 PM CDT (02:52 UTC)
Expired: Jul 5, 1998, 10:50 PM CDT
In force: 58 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Divide County, ND, Williams County, ND

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 5, 10:26 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Williston, ND	Hail combined with strong winds to increase damage.
Jul 5, 10:26 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Williston, ND	Twentyone trailers/cabins were damaged at the trailer park near the Black Tail dam. Roofs were torn off trailers, north side windows were broken, trees were knocked over, and trailers were moved off their foundations.
Jul 5, 10:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 98	Epping, ND	Reported as a tornado but no tornado or funnel cloud reported. Damage and eye witness reports suggest a very strong downburst wind. A line of 85 empty rail cars were tipped over between Epping and Wheelock. There was also some damage to a grain elevator and a
Jul 5, 11:00 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Grenora, 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 nearest sounding before it

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 234 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: 1916 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 40 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.1
Supercell composite: -1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

707 
WUUS1 KISN 060253 RRA
SVRISN
NDC023-105-060350-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND
952 PM CDT SUN JUL 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILLISTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN DIVIDE COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
  NORTHWESTERN WILLIAMS COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 1050 PM CDT

* AT AT 946 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED 5MI WEST OF
  GRENORA...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MI WEST OF GRENORA AND 5 MI WEST OF ALKABO.
..
  MOVING STORM MOVEMENT IS TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  STORMS WILL AFFECT THE TOWNS OF ALKABO AND GRENORA BY 1000 PM.

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

CHAPMAN

IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IF A
STORM APPROACHES.  MOTORISTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR REDUCED
VISIBILITIES DURING DOWNPOURS OF RAIN.  STREETS MAY FLOOD QUICKLY.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jul 5, 9:22 PM CDT, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
922 PM CDT SUN JUL 5 1998

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

0700 PM    2 NW PORTAL               ND   TORNADO
07/05/98   BURKE                          LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORT ON
                                          US BORDER

0822 PM    8 W BOWBELLS              ND   TORNADO
07/05/98   BURKE                          WEATHER SPOTTER REPORT

0837 PM    NIOBE                     ND   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/05/98   WARD

DED

Local storm report, Jul 5, 9:22 PM CDT, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
922 PM CDT SUN JUL 5 1998

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

0700 PM    2 NW PORTAL               ND   TORNADO
07/05/98   BURKE                          LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORT ON
                                          US BORDER

0822 PM    8 W BOWBELLS              ND   TORNADO
07/05/98   BURKE                          WEATHER SPOTTER REPORT

0837 PM    NIOBE                     ND   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/05/98   WARD

DED

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 5, 7:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burke	48 min
Jul 5, 8:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Burke	34 min
Jul 5, 8:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Ward	44 min
Jul 5, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mountrail	47 min
Jul 5, 10:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mountrail	58 min
Jul 5, 10:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Williams	28 min
Jul 5, 11:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mountrail	46 min
Jul 6, 12:39 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mountrail, Ward	61 min
Jul 6, 3:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie	64 min
Jul 6, 4:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Ward	64 min
Jul 6, 4:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Ward	49 min
Jul 6, 5:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Emmons	47 min
Jul 6, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burleigh	45 min
Jul 6, 5:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean	45 min
Jul 6, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie	60 min
Jul 6, 6:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Renville	32 min
Jul 6, 6:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McIntosh	31 min
Jul 6, 6:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burleigh, Kidder	50 min
Jul 6, 6:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean	63 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.