Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Bismarck, ND

May 17, 1998Ward County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1998, 4:35 PM CDT for Ward County, North Dakota. It was in force for 50 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 17, 1998, 4:35 PM CDT (21:35 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1998, 5:25 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Ward County, ND

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:38 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 17, 5:18 PM CDTTornado F0Carpio, NDBrief touch down reported by deputy.

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 17, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 173 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 194 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-466 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1493 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

890 
WUUS1 KBIS 172138 RRA
SVRBIS
NDC101-172225-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME NORTHWESTERN WARD COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 525 PM CDT

* AT 435 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF MINOT...OR 5 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF COULEE... MOVING NORTH AT 18 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  COULEE AT 450 PM CDT
  KENMARE AT 510 PM CDT

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

JP MARTIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 5:08 PM CDTTornado WarningBISWard32 min
May 17, 5:24 PM CDTTornado WarningBISRenville46 min
May 17, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISWard63 min
May 17, 6:14 PM CDTTornado WarningBISBottineau, Renville61 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.