Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Grand Forks, ND

June 18, 1998Traill County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1998, 6:48 PM CDT for Traill County, North Dakota. It was in force for 27 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, 6:48 PM CDT (23:48 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1998, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Traill County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:52 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, 7:08 PM CDTTornado F0Kelso, 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
Jun 18, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 278 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
726 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 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.

393 
WFUS1 KFAR 182348 RRA
TORFAR
NDC097-190020-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TRAILL COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 645 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO MOVING NORTH AT 10
  MPH NEAR GRANDIN WHICH IS 25 MILES NORTH OF FARGO.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  KELSO

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 WarningFGFCass33 min
Jun 18, 5:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFCass2 hr

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.