Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 20, 1998Polk County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1998, 3:28 PM CDT for Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 32 min. 4 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, 3:28 PM CDT (20:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1998, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:29 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
Jul 20, 3:28 PM CDTTornado F0Fertile, MN
Jul 20, 3:30 PM CDTTornado F0Winger, MN
Jul 20, 3:38 PM CDTHail 1.75Winger, MN
Jul 20, 3:43 PM CDTHail 0.75Fosston, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 20, 2:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 246 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1149 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

164 
WFUS1 KFAR 202029 RRA
TORFAR
MNC119-202100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
328 PM CDT MON JUL 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN POLK COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 400 PM CDT

* AT 328 PM...SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 7 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF FERTILE OR 35 MILES SOUTH OF THIEF RIVER FALLS.  THE
  STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 3O MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  WINGER AT 345 PM

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

SCHUMACHER
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 10:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson50 min
Jul 20, 1:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk32 min
Jul 20, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFLake of the Woods34 min
Jul 20, 2:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPennington, Polk50 min
Jul 20, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRed Lake33 min
Jul 20, 3:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk47 min
Jul 20, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNorman35 min
Jul 20, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRed Lake32 min
Jul 20, 3:31 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFMahnomen34 min
Jul 20, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater31 min
Jul 20, 3:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Lake of the Woods28 min
Jul 20, 4:01 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFMahnomen34 min
Jul 20, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker31 min
Jul 20, 4:18 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFClearwater32 min
Jul 20, 4:29 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBecker31 min
Jul 20, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFHubbard30 min
Jul 20, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker30 min
Jul 20, 5:19 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBecker31 min
Jul 20, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFHubbard33 min
Jul 20, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWadena33 min
Jul 20, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWadena34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.