Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Twin Cities, MN

March 29, 1998Dakota County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Mar 29, 1998, 6:25 PM CST for Dakota County, Minnesota. It was in force for 50 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: Mar 29, 1998, 6:25 PM CST (00:25 UTC)
Expired: Mar 29, 1998, 7:15 PM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Whole counties

County Dakota County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:24 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, 6:25 PM CST	Tornado F2	Castle Rock, MN
Mar 29, 6:38 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Farmington, MN
Mar 29, 6:43 PM CST	Tornado F0	Hastings, MN
Mar 29, 6:43 PM CST	Hail 2	Inver Grove Heights, 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
Mar 29, 3:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 47 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: 625 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 529 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 79 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 499 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 565 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 300027
TORMSP
MNC037-300115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
625 PM CST SUN MAR 29 1998


* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  DAKOTA COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 715 PM CST

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    LAKEVILLE
    FARMINGTON
    CASTLE ROCK
    RANDOLPH

* AT 620 PM CST SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN
  LONSDALE...OR ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTH OF MINNEAPOLIS. THE TORNADO
  WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION!!! IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM TAKE SHELTER NOW TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE!!!!

MILLER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 29, 6:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Scott	52 min
Mar 29, 6:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MPX	Le Sueur, Rice	57 min
Mar 29, 7:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Goodhue	63 min
Mar 29, 7:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Blue Earth, Waseca	45 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.