Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Bismarck, ND

May 13, 1998McLean County, Mercer County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 13, 1998, 10:22 PM CDT for McLean County, Mercer County, North Dakota. It was in force for 48 min. 1 report 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 13, 1998, 10:22 PM CDT (03:22 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 1998, 11:10 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties McLean County, ND, Mercer County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:21 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
May 13, 11:00 PM CDTHail 1Max, NDNewspaper reported slight damage to house and a field of grain.

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
May 13, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 101 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1998-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 655 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1998-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
655 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1459 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
7.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBIS 140324 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC055-057-140410-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1022 PM CDT (922 PM MDT) WED MAY 13 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MCLEAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
  EXTREME EASTERN MERCER COUNTY IN CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 1110 PM CDT (1010 PM MDT)

* AT 1020 PM CDT...920 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER
  RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 50 MILES SOUTH OF MINOT...OR
  4 MILES NORTHWEST OF STANTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  STANTON UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
  UNDERWOOD BY 1040 PM CDT
  TURTLE LAKE BY 1055 PM CDT

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

JP MARTIN

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, May 13, 9:54 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
954 PM CDT WED MAY 13 1998

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

0630 PM    10 N NEW ENGLAND          ND   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/13/98   STARK

0626 PM    KILLDEER                  ND   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/13/98   DUNN

0718 PM    10 NW HEBRON              ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   STARK                          SPOTTERS REPORTED BRIEF
                                          TOUCHDOWN OF TORNADO.

0845 PM    PRICE                     ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   OLIVER                         BRIEF TOUCHDOWN REPORTED.

0910 PM    1 W WILTON                ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   BURLEIGH                       TORNADO BRIEFLY ON THE
                                          GROUND

0930 PM    5 E WILTON                ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   BURLEIGH                       BRIEF TOUCHDOWN

0905 PM    5 E PRICE                 ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/13/98   OLIVER

FRANSEN
Local storm report, May 13, 9:54 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
954 PM CDT WED MAY 13 1998

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

0630 PM    10 N NEW ENGLAND          ND   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/13/98   STARK

0626 PM    KILLDEER                  ND   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/13/98   DUNN

0718 PM    10 NW HEBRON              ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   STARK                          SPOTTERS REPORTED BRIEF
                                          TOUCHDOWN OF TORNADO.

0845 PM    PRICE                     ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   OLIVER                         BRIEF TOUCHDOWN REPORTED.

0910 PM    1 W WILTON                ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   BURLEIGH                       TORNADO BRIEFLY ON THE
                                          GROUND

0930 PM    5 E WILTON                ND   TORNADO
05/13/98   BURLEIGH                       BRIEF TOUCHDOWN

0905 PM    5 E PRICE                 ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/13/98   OLIVER

FRANSEN
Special weather statement, May 13, 10:05 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
NDZ010>013-017>022-032>035-040>042-140405-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
1005 PM CDT WED MAY 13 1998

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 11 PM CDT...10 PM MDT...FOR MOST OF
WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

MAJOR CITIES IN THIS TORNADO WATCH ARE...DICKINSON...BISMARCK/MANDAN...
AND MINOT.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.

AT 10 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING BETWEEN BISMARCK AND MINOT.
THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST. AT 10 PM THESE STORMS WERE NOT SEVERE BUT
THEY WERE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAIN AND PEA SIZE HAIL IN MERCER AND
MCLEAN COUNTIES.

JP MARTIN
Special weather statement, May 13, 10:05 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
NDZ010>013-017>022-032>035-040>042-140405-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
1005 PM CDT WED MAY 13 1998

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 11 PM CDT...10 PM MDT...FOR MOST OF
WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA...

MAJOR CITIES IN THIS TORNADO WATCH ARE...DICKINSON...BISMARCK/MANDAN...
AND MINOT.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.

AT 10 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING BETWEEN BISMARCK AND MINOT.
THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST. AT 10 PM THESE STORMS WERE NOT SEVERE BUT
THEY WERE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAIN AND PEA SIZE HAIL IN MERCER AND
MCLEAN COUNTIES.

JP MARTIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 7:20 PM CDTTornado WarningBISMorton45 min
May 13, 7:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISOliver64 min
May 13, 8:05 PM CDTTornado WarningBISMorton30 min
May 13, 8:31 PM CDTTornado WarningBISOliver29 min
May 13, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningBISBurleigh47 min
May 14, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningBISSheridan43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 1998Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.