Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 4:12 PM CDT for 5 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 63 min. 36 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, 4:12 PM CDT (21:12 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1998, 5:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Anoka County, MN, Dakota County, MN, Hennepin County, MN, Ramsey County, MN, Wright County, MN
The radar
The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:12 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, 4:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Howard Lake, MN | Trees and power lines down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:21 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Burnsville, MN | Windows blown in. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:22 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Eden Prairie, MN | Measured at Flying Cloud Airport. |
| May 15, 4:24 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Farmington, MN | |
| May 15, 4:25 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Bloomington, MN | Severe damage to automobile dealership. Damage estimate for entire county. |
| May 15, 4:25 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Eden Prairie, MN | Measured at Flying Cloud Airport. |
| May 15, 4:27 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Eagan, MN | |
| May 15, 4:29 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Burnsville, MN | Widespread damage to houses and vehicles by wind driven hail. Damage estimate for entire county. |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Eden Prairie, MN | |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Long Lake, MN | 1 foot diameter trees blown down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Hail 1.5 | Minneapolis, MN | |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Hail 1.25 | Edina, MN | 5 foot diameter trees also blown down in possible microburst. Some trees snapped in half. |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Mound, MN | |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 54 | Minneapolis, MN | Measured at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. |
| May 15, 4:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Lakeville, MN | 2 foot diameter trees blown down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:32 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Minnetonka, MN | Strong winds also knocked down trees. |
| May 15, 4:33 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Hopkins, MN | |
| May 15, 4:33 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Annandale, MN | Trees and power lines down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:35 PM CDT | Hail 1 | St Paul, MN | |
| May 15, 4:35 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Wayzata, MN | Hundreds of trees blown down. Damage to homes and garages. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:36 PM CDT | Hail 1.25 | Minneapolis, MN | Damage to airplanes at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. |
| May 15, 4:38 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | St Paul, MN | Trees down at Snelling and Interstate 94. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:38 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 65 | Corcoran, MN | Roof blown off business. Police trailer toppled. |
| May 15, 4:39 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | St Paul, MN | Measured at Regents Hospital. |
| May 15, 4:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Golden Vly, MN | Trees down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:40 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Fridley, MN | Scattered damage from wind driven hail. |
| May 15, 4:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 65 | Spring Lake Park, MN | Roof ripped off apartment building. |
| May 15, 4:40 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Roseville, MN | Tornado touched down in Roseville, and travelled straight north through Shoreview, North Oaks, Lino Lakes, eventually lifting off in Blaine in Anoka County. 7 houses destroyed, 102 severely damaged. Damaged estimate for entire county including widespread win |
| May 15, 4:42 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | South Haven, MN | Power lines down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:45 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Buffalo, MN | Airplane flipped over. Trees knocked down. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 4:47 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | St Michael, MN | Trailer office blown over. Trees also blown over. Estimated windspeed. Damage estimate for entire county. |
| May 15, 4:50 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Lino Lakes, MN | See narrative for Ramsey County. |
| May 15, 4:59 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 57 | Anoka Co Blaine Arpt, MN | |
| May 15, 4:59 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Coon Rapids, MN | Scattered damage to houses from wind driven hail. |
| May 15, 5:01 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Howard Lake, MN | Trees blown over. Estimated windspeed. |
| May 15, 5:06 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Linwood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 2:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
| May 15, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 27 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.
000
TTAA00 KMSP 152112 RRA
SVRMSP
MNC003-037-053-123-171-152215-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
412 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS
ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
ANOKA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
DAKOTA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
HENNEPIN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
RAMSEY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
WRIGHT COUNTY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA
* UNTIL 515 PM CDT
* AT 410 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE STORMS
FROM NORWOOD TO LONSDALE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 70 MPH.
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
BUFFALO
MINNEAPOLIS
ST PAUL
ANOKA
FARMINGTON
THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS. STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE
TORNADOES.
JMPThe 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, 3:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Le Sueur, Sibley | 63 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, 4:14 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.