Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 171, NWS Twin Cities, MN

June 20, 1998Martin County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1998, 9:31 AM CDT for Martin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 64 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 20, 1998, 9:31 AM CDT (14:31 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1998, 10:35 AM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Martin County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:31 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 20, 9:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 18 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 416 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-384 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2049 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
416 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
589 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

872 
WUUS1 KMSP 201433 RRA
SVRMSP
MNC091-201535-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
931 AM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS
ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  MARTIN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 1035 AM CDT

* AT 930 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH LARGE
  HAIL NEAR TRIMONT OF 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF FAIRMONT.  THE STORM
  WAS MOVING NORTHEAST 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    TRIMONT
    FOX LAKE
    WELCOM
    SHERBURNE

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...WITH LARGE HAIL.  STAY INDOORS AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.


BAP

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 4:30 AM CDT, 5 hours 1 minute before
MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028-202100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
430 AM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER MUCH OF MINNESOTA TODAY...

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS FORECAST A RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER
OVER ALL OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TODAY...AND INTO WEST
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

COUNTERCLOCKWISE FLOW AROUND A STATIONARY LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER
SOUTHERN CANADA WILL HELP TO PUSH A COLD FRONT THROUGH MINNESOTA
TODAY.  SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THE LOW WILL HELP TO DRAW AN
INCREASINGLY WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS INTO THE GOPHER STATE.  AS THE
FRONT INTERACTS WITH THIS UNSTABLE AIR...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
TO ERUPT...A FEW OF WHICH COULD BECOME SEVERE.  THE STORMS SHOULD
FIRST DEVELOP IN WESTERN MINNESOTA BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY
AFTERNOON...THEN SPREAD INTO EASTERN MINNESOTA DURING THE AFTERNOON
EVENTUALLY REACHING WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN BY EVENING.

THE AREA WITH THE HIGHEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS GENERALLY
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM THE TWIN CITIES TO FAIRMONT.  WHILE STRONG AND
DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE MAIN THREAT FROM THE STORMS...
A FEW TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR
ACTIVATION TODAY.

JUSKIE
Special weather statement, Jun 20, 4:30 AM CDT, 5 hours 1 minute before
MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028-202100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
430 AM CDT SAT JUN 20 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER MUCH OF MINNESOTA TODAY...

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS FORECAST A RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER
OVER ALL OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TODAY...AND INTO WEST
CENTRAL WISCONSIN LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

COUNTERCLOCKWISE FLOW AROUND A STATIONARY LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER
SOUTHERN CANADA WILL HELP TO PUSH A COLD FRONT THROUGH MINNESOTA
TODAY.  SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THE LOW WILL HELP TO DRAW AN
INCREASINGLY WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS INTO THE GOPHER STATE.  AS THE
FRONT INTERACTS WITH THIS UNSTABLE AIR...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
TO ERUPT...A FEW OF WHICH COULD BECOME SEVERE.  THE STORMS SHOULD
FIRST DEVELOP IN WESTERN MINNESOTA BY LATE MORNING OR EARLY
AFTERNOON...THEN SPREAD INTO EASTERN MINNESOTA DURING THE AFTERNOON
EVENTUALLY REACHING WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN BY EVENING.

THE AREA WITH THE HIGHEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS GENERALLY
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM THE TWIN CITIES TO FAIRMONT.  WHILE STRONG AND
DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE THE MAIN THREAT FROM THE STORMS...
A FEW TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR
ACTIVATION TODAY.

JUSKIE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 8:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMartin61 min
Jun 20, 8:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBrown, Watonwan65 min
Jun 20, 9:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXNicollet, Sibley61 min
Jun 20, 9:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXScott40 min
Jun 20, 9:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWatonwan36 min
Jun 20, 10:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWatonwan35 min
Jun 20, 11:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault, Martin46 min
Jun 20, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.