Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 27, 1998Walsh County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1998, 8:21 PM CDT for Walsh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 49 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 27, 1998, 8:21 PM CDT (01:21 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1998, 9:10 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Walsh County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:23 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
May 27, 8:22 PM CDTThunderstorm WindPark River, NDA parked car was blown into a van.
May 27, 8:25 PM CDTHail 1.75Pisek, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 27, 8:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 286 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1998-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 761 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1998-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 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
761 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2462 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

497 
WFUS1 KFAR 280122 RRA
TORFAR
NDC099-280210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
821 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WALSH COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 910 PM CDT

* AT 821 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTH OF PARK
  RIVER OR 18 WEST OF GRAFTON MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  VOSS AT 840 PM
  MINTO AT 900 PM

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

GSF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier33 min
May 27, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWalsh29 min
May 27, 7:53 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFWalsh32 min
May 27, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes34 min
May 27, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes27 min
May 27, 10:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom33 min
May 28, 2:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier32 min
May 28, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Pembina32 min
May 28, 3:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina33 min
May 28, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina34 min
May 28, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina30 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.