Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1998, 8:23 PM CDT for McHenry County, North Dakota. It was in force for 47 min. 2 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, 8:23 PM CDT (01:23 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1998, 9:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County McHenry County, ND
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 8:25 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, 1.4 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
079 WFUS1 KBIS 180126 RRA TORBIS NDC049-180210- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 823 PM CDT SUN MAY 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHEASTERN MCHENRY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA * UNTIL 910 PM CDT * AT 820 PM CDT... AREA LAW ENFORCEMENT INDICATED A TORNADO 1 MILE NORTH OF BALFOUR... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR LM &
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 17, 8:07 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
NDZ001-002-010-019>021-035>037-180135- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 804 PM CDT (704 PM MDT) SUN MAY 17 1998 A PORTION OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED. THE CANCELLED COUNTIES ARE ON THE WEST AND SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE WATCH AREA AND INCLUDE DIVIDE...BURKE...MOUNTRAIL...MCLEAN...MERCER... OLIVER...MORTON...BURLEIGH...KIDDER AND STUTSMAN COUNTIES. THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE ORIGINAL WATCH AREA UNTIL 10 PM CDT.
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, 7:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McHenry | 60 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
Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 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.