Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 18, 1998McLeod County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1998, 7:58 PM CDT for McLeod County, Minnesota. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report 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, 7:58 PM CDT (00:58 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1998, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County McLeod County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:58 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, 8:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 70Winsted, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 18, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3617 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1998-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3617 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1794 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

648 
WFUS1 KMSP 190059 RRA
TORMSP
MNC085-190200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
758 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MCLEOD COUNTY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT

* AT 758 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 5
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON.  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    HUTCHINSON
    SILVER LAKE
    BISCAY
    LESTER PRAIRIE

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

JMP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Renville, Yellow Medicine60 min
May 18, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod47 min
May 18, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXNicollet, Sibley63 min
May 18, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver63 min
May 18, 7:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXHennepin, Wright53 min
May 18, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod65 min
May 18, 8:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington61 min
May 18, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMorrison, Stearns64 min
May 18, 8:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi, Meeker42 min
May 18, 8:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Hennepin, Scott61 min
May 18, 8:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver61 min
May 18, 8:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, Nicollet63 min
May 18, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Sherburne, Stearns64 min
May 18, 9:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue, Rice66 min
May 18, 9:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Nicollet40 min
May 18, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWaseca30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.