Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 20, 1998Becker County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1998, 4:29 PM CDT for Becker County, Minnesota. It was in force for 31 min. 3 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, 4:29 PM CDT (21:29 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1998, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Becker County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:29 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, 4:30 PM CDTTornado F0Ogema, MN
Jul 20, 4:45 PM CDTHail 1Ponsford, MN
Jul 20, 5:05 PM CDTTornado F0Rochert, MN2 tornadoes touched down on the east side of Height of Land Lake, blowing down many trees and damaging 6 homes. 2 trees fell on one cabin and another tree fell on a garage. Boat lifts and docks were smashed and power was knocked out. One home reported sever

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, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 254 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.

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 202129 RRA
TORFAR
MNC005-202200-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN BECKER COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 425 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADIC SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES EAST OF OGEMA OR AABOUT 20
  MILES NO"RTH OF DETROIT LAKES. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  WHITE EARTH AT 435 PM CDT

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

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, 3:28 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPolk32 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, 4:45 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.