Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Grand Forks, ND

June 18, 1998Grant County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1998, 4:37 PM CDT for Grant County, Minnesota. It was in force for 33 min. 1 report 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
Jun 18, 1998, 4:37 PM CDT (21:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1998, 5:10 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Grant County, MN

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 194 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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
Jun 18, 4:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Barrett, 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 nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1998-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 94 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1998-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -63 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
94 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-142 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1114 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

454 
WFUS1 KFAR 182138 RRA
TORFAR
MNC051-182210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
437 PM CDT THU JUN 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GRANT COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 510 PM CDT

* AT 435 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5
  MILES WEST OF HOFFMAN OR 20 MILES SOUTH OF FERGUS FALLS MOVING
  NORTHWEST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  BARRETT AND ELBOW LAKE

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A STAIRWAY OR A PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 2:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay33 min
Jun 18, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrant36 min
Jun 18, 5:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFClay2 hr

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.