Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 3:27 PM CDT for Le Sueur County, Sibley County, Minnesota. It was in force for 63 min. 4 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 15, 1998, 3:27 PM CDT (20:27 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1998, 4:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Le Sueur County, MN, Sibley County, MN
The radar
The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:31 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 3:50 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Le Center, MN | Trees down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Montgomery, MN | Trees down. Windows blown out. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:04 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | New Prague, MN | Numerous houses and vehicles damaged by wind-driven hail. Damage estimate for entire county. |
| May 15, 4:05 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Green Isle, MN | 2.5 foot diameter trees blown down. Estimated windspeed. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 51 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1571 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -84 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 642 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 179 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 180 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 6.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
352
WUUS1 KMSP 152029 RRA
SVRMSP
MNC079-143-152130-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
327 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS
ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
LE SUEUR COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
SIBLEY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
* UNTIL 430 PM CDT
* AT 325 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE STORMS
FROM MANKATO TO ST CLAIR. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH.
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
CLEVELAND
LE SUEUR
LE CENTER
ELYSIAN
GAYLORD
GIBBON
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...WITH DAMAGING WINDS. STAY INDOORS
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE
TORNADOES.
JMPWhat 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, May 15, 11:00 AM CDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028-152100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 1100 AM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998 ...INCREASING THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER OVER MINNESOTA TODAY... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER INDICATES THERE IS NOW A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN THIS AFTERNOON. CITIES INCLUDED IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA ARE ST CLOUD...REDWOOD FALLS...HUTCHINSON...MANKATO... ALBERT LEA AND THE TWIN CITIES IN MINNESOTA AND RICE LAKE...MENOMONIE AND EAU CLAIRE IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS RACING ACROSS IOWA LATE THIS MORNING AT SPEEDS APPROACHING 70 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY PUSH INTO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA SHORTLY AFTER NOON...THEN OVERSPREAD CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL COME IN THE FORM OF VERY STRONG AND DAMAGING WINDS...ALTHOUGH LARGE HAIL AND EVEN A FEW TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT. STORM SPOTTER GROUP ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PARTS OF MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN THIS AFTERNOON. JUSKIE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 2:31 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Faribault | 12 hr |
| May 15, 2:42 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | MPX | Faribault, Martin | 48 min |
| May 15, 3:02 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Nicollet | 13 hr |
| May 15, 4:48 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Lac qui Parle | 47 min |
| May 15, 1:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Pope, Stearns | 32 min |
| May 15, 1:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Benton, Stearns | 37 min |
| May 15, 1:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Morrison | 40 min |
| May 15, 2:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Martin | 51 min |
| May 15, 3:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Rice, Scott | 50 min |
| May 15, 4:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Carver | 51 min |
| May 15, 4:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Wright | 63 min |
| May 15, 4:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Meeker | 31 min |
| May 15, 4:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Sherburne, Stearns | 56 min |
| May 15, 4:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Washington | 56 min |
| May 15, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Benton, Isanti, Mille Lacs | 58 min |
| May 15, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Chisago | 58 min |
| May 15, 4:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MPX | Anoka, Ramsey, Washington | 29 min |
| May 15, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Morrison, Todd | 64 min |
| May 15, 5:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Kanabec | 57 min |
| May 15, 5:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Mille Lacs | 29 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.