Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 197, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1998, 5:37 PM CDT for Wadena County, Minnesota. It was in force for 33 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 20, 1998, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1998, 6:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wadena County, MN
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 207 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 5:57 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Menahga, MN | |
| Jul 20, 6:10 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Sebeka, MN |
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 20, 2:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 220 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2372 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 103 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
218 WUUS1 KFAR 202239 RRA SVRFAR MNC159-202310- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 537 PM CDT MON JUL 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHERN WADENA COUNTY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA * UNTIL 610 PM CDT * AT 536 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF MENAHGA OR 35 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DETROIT LAKES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... MENAHGA AT 555 PM REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCED WARNING. GSF
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.
NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 20, 3:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 3:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 300 PM CDT MON JUL 20 1998 FIRST PERIOD DISCUSSION...ADAP SHOWING GOOD MSTR FLUX CONVERENGCE FM TVF TO SARGENT CNTY ND. LIS WERE ALSO QUITE LOW AND THE CAP WAS WEAKEST IN THE SAME AREA. UPR LVL JET MOVG ALNG THE INTERNATIONAL BDR WITH STRMS LIKELY TO FIRE IN RFQ AS WARM MOIST AIR GETS LIFTED UNDER JET INDUCED SUBSIDENCE. STRMS FIRING UP ARND TVF. STLT SHOWING A LINE OF ENHANCED CU FM TVF TO DICKEY CNTY ND. WATER VAPOR LOOP ALSO HAS HIR MID LVL MSTR MOVG IN. SHOULD SEE STRMS DEVELOP ALONG MOIST/DRY INTERFACE AND ALONG SFC FNT. WNDS HAVE BECM NW W SFC CU LINE ON STLT. XPC STRMS TO DEVELOP ALNG FNTL BNDRY AND ESPECIALLY WHERE FNTL BNDRY WOULD INTERSECT MOIST/DRY INTERFACE. CLRG SHOULD FOLLOW STRMS ACTIVITY TNGT XCP ALNG INTERNATIONAL BDR WHERE MORE CLDS ARE XPCD. AS FAR AS TEMPS MOS SEEMS A LITTLE WARM WITH DWPNTS IN THE UPR 40S IN WRN ND HOWEVER UPR 50S DWPNTS WERE IN SRN MAN. TEMPS SHOUD BE WARMER ALNG THE NRN BDR WITH HIR DWPNTS AND CLDS BY MORN...COOLER IN THE S. THINK LOWS WL BE IN THE MID 50S IN FAR, FFM, DTL, PKD...AND UPR 50S GFK, FSE, BJI, DVL...ARND 60 IN HCO, ROX, BDE. HOPPES
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 5:22 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-NDZ030-039-053-210115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 522 PM CDT MON JUL 20 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA... KITTSON...ROSEAU...MARSHALL...PENNINGTON...RED LAKE...POLK...NORMAN AND TRAILL. THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...CASS AND RICHLAND...AND FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...LAKE OF THE WOODS...BELTRAMI...CLEARWATER...MAHNOMEN...HUBBARD...BECKER... WADENA...CLAY...WILKIN AND OTTER TAIL. NG
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 5:22 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-NDZ030-039-053-210115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 522 PM CDT MON JUL 20 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA... KITTSON...ROSEAU...MARSHALL...PENNINGTON...RED LAKE...POLK...NORMAN AND TRAILL. THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...CASS AND RICHLAND...AND FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA...LAKE OF THE WOODS...BELTRAMI...CLEARWATER...MAHNOMEN...HUBBARD...BECKER... WADENA...CLAY...WILKIN AND OTTER TAIL. NG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 10:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Kittson | 50 min |
| Jul 20, 1:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 32 min |
| Jul 20, 2:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Lake of the Woods | 34 min |
| Jul 20, 2:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Pennington, Polk | 50 min |
| Jul 20, 2:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Red Lake | 33 min |
| Jul 20, 3:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Polk | 47 min |
| Jul 20, 3:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Norman | 35 min |
| Jul 20, 3:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Red Lake | 32 min |
| Jul 20, 3:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Polk | 32 min |
| Jul 20, 3:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Mahnomen | 34 min |
| Jul 20, 3:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Clearwater | 31 min |
| Jul 20, 3:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Beltrami, Lake of the Woods | 28 min |
| Jul 20, 4:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Mahnomen | 34 min |
| Jul 20, 4:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Becker | 31 min |
| Jul 20, 4:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Clearwater | 32 min |
| Jul 20, 4:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Becker | 31 min |
| Jul 20, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Hubbard | 30 min |
| Jul 20, 4:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Becker | 30 min |
| Jul 20, 5:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Becker | 31 min |
| Jul 20, 5:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Hubbard | 33 min |
| Jul 20, 6:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Wadena | 34 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.