Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

March 29, 1998Cottonwood County, Murray County, Minnesota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Mar 29, 1998, 3:50 PM CST for Cottonwood County, Murray County, Minnesota. It was in force for 50 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: Mar 29, 1998, 3:50 PM CST (21:50 UTC)
Expired: Mar 29, 1998, 4:40 PM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cottonwood County, MN, Murray County, MN

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 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

Time	Report	Where
Mar 29, 3:50 PM CST	Tornado F1	Avoca, MN
Mar 29, 3:55 PM CST	Tornado F1	Fulda, MN
Mar 29, 3:55 PM CST	Tornado F3	Westbrook, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Mar 29, 2:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 175 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 251 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.

707 
WFUS1 KFSD 292151 RRA
TORFSD
MNC033-101-292240-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
350 PM CST SUN MAR 29 1998

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  COTTONWOOD COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA
  EASTERN MURRAY COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 440 PM CST
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
  STORDEN                  AROUND 400 PM CST
  JEFFERS                  AROUND 410 PM CST
  DELFT                    AROUND 415 PM CST

* AT 348 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 20 MILES NORTH OF WORTHINGTON  OR 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  STORDEN MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID
WINDOWS.

JCB

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 29, 4:44 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lincoln	31 min
Mar 29, 2:52 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Rock	33 min
Mar 29, 3:09 PM CST	Tornado Warning	FSD	Murray, Nobles, Rock	51 min
Mar 29, 4:48 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cottonwood	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.