Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 18, 1998Brown County, Redwood County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1998, 6:38 PM CDT for Brown County, Redwood County, Minnesota. It was in force for 62 min. 2 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 18, 1998, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1998, 7:40 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brown County, MN, Redwood County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:41 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
May 18, 6:50 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 56Morgan, MNRoof off hog farm.
May 18, 7:05 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 56Morgan, MNBridge plank blown into LP tank, knocking the valve off the LP tank. Vapors forced the evacuation of 2 city blocks.

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
May 18, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 1998-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2045 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 1998-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2045 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-117 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
759 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

269 
WUUS1 KMSP 182339 RRA
SVRMSP
MNC015-127-190040-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
638 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1998

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BROWN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  EASTERN REDWOOD COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 740 PM CDT

* AT 635 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM NEAR
  LAMBERTON...OR 30 MILES SOUTH OF REDWOOD FALLS.  THE STORM WAS
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    LAMBERTON
    CLEMENTS
    SLEEPY EYE
    SPRINGFIELD
    COMFREY

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY.  GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.


JMP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi, Swift64 min
May 18, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope, Stearns64 min
May 18, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMeeker, Stearns62 min
May 18, 5:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMeeker58 min
May 18, 6:10 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXMeeker35 min
May 18, 6:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Meeker, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright67 min
May 18, 6:42 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXMeeker, Wright48 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.