Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 20, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1998, 10:47 PM CDT for Williams County, North Dakota. It was in force for 28 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
- Jul 5, 1998, 10:47 PM CDT (03:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 5, 1998, 11:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Williams County, ND
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 10:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 231 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
950 WFUS1 KISN 060348 RRA TORISN NDC105-060420- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILLISTON ND ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 1047 PM CDT SUN JUL 5 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN WILLIAMS COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA * UNTIL 1115 PM CDT * AT 1035 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 18 MILES NORTH OF WILLISTON... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... SPRING BROOK AT 1050 PM CDT EPPING AT 1048 PM CDT GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR DH
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
Local storm report, Jul 5, 9:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 25 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
DEDLocal storm report, Jul 5, 9:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 25 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
DEDThe 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, 9:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Divide, Williams | 58 min |
| Jul 5, 10:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Mountrail | 58 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
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.