Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Bismarck, ND

June 3, 1999McHenry County, Pierce County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1999, 6:50 PM CDT for McHenry County, Pierce County, North Dakota. It was in force for 25 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued: Jun 3, 1999, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired: Jun 3, 1999, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties McHenry County, ND, Pierce County, ND

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:53 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 3, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 154 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 897 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -163 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.

339 
WFUS1 KBIS 032353 RRA
TORBIS
NDC049-069-040015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
650 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN PIERCE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
  SOUTHERN MCHENRY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 650 PM CDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO JUST EAST OF BALFOUR
  ...OR ABOUT 42 MILES EAST OF MINOT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  ORRIN AT 700 PM CDT
  BALTA AT 710 PM CDT
  SILVA AT 715 PM CDT

THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR
THE WARNED AREA.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4808 10056 4793 10039 4816 9989 4837 10006

&

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jun 3, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
300 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999

ZONES HAVE ALREADY BEEN RELEASED AS SPC HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH
FOR MOST OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ND UNTIL 040100Z (8 PM CDT). LINE OF
DEEP MOIST CONVECTION FORMING ON DEW POINT BOUDARY IN SW ND...DEWS IN
THE LOWER 60S EAST OF LINE AND IN THE 30S-50S JUST WEST OF IT. CAPES
IN WATCH AREA ARE AROUND 2500 J/KG WITH SATELLITE DERIVED LIFTED
INDICES IN THE -3 TO -6 RANGE. THANKS TO LF AT ISN FOR POINTING OUT
HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL...K INDEX FORECAST TO BE AROUND 38 THIS
EVENING. ADDED HEAVY RAIN TO ZONES.

SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEAST LATE TONIGHT BUT A SECONDARY LOBE OF
VORTICITY PUSHES INTO ISN AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON. ADDED SMALL POPS TO
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. EXTENDED LOOKS STORMY SATURDAY NIGHT-
SUNDAY. LESS CHANCES OF STORMS FOR MONDAY.

.BIS...NONE.

JP MARTIN

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 3, 3:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
351 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0340 PM    SHIELDS                   ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   GRANT

0345 PM    SHIELDS                   ND   1.25 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   GRANT

0350 PM    BREIEN                    ND   1.75 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   MORTON

END

Local storm report, Jun 3, 3:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  BISMARCK ND
351 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0340 PM    SHIELDS                   ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   GRANT

0345 PM    SHIELDS                   ND   1.25 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   GRANT

0350 PM    BREIEN                    ND   1.75 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   MORTON

END

Local storm report, Jun 3, 5:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
505 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0415 PM    HEBRON                    ND   0.88 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   MORTON                         NWS COOP OBSERVER REPORT

0434 PM    FORT RICE                 ND   1.25 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   MORTON                         NWS METEOROLOGIST REPORT

0450 PM    7 NE CENTER               ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   OLIVER                         HAM RADIO OPERATOR REPORT

JP MARTIN

Local storm report, Jun 3, 5:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
505 PM CDT THU JUN 3 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0415 PM    HEBRON                    ND   0.88 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   MORTON                         NWS COOP OBSERVER REPORT

0434 PM    FORT RICE                 ND   1.25 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   MORTON                         NWS METEOROLOGIST REPORT

0450 PM    7 NE CENTER               ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/03/99   OLIVER                         HAM RADIO OPERATOR REPORT

JP MARTIN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 3, 2:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mountrail	63 min
Jun 3, 3:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Grant, Sioux	38 min
Jun 3, 3:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Grant, Morton	35 min
Jun 3, 3:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Divide	64 min
Jun 3, 3:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Morton, Sioux	33 min
Jun 3, 4:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mercer, Morton, Oliver	40 min
Jun 3, 4:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burleigh, Emmons, Morton, Sioux	57 min
Jun 3, 4:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean, Oliver	38 min
Jun 3, 5:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Burleigh, Emmons	31 min
Jun 3, 5:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean	52 min
Jun 3, 5:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	McLean	35 min
Jun 3, 5:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Burleigh, Kidder	28 min
Jun 3, 6:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Kidder	34 min
Jun 3, 6:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McHenry, McLean	56 min
Jun 3, 6:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Kidder, Stutsman	31 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.