Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 12, 1999Ramsey County, Walsh County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 1999, 9:56 PM CDT for Ramsey County, Walsh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 34 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
Jul 12, 1999, 9:56 PM CDT (02:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1999, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ramsey County, ND, Walsh County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:59 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
Jul 12, 10:05 PM CDTHail 1.25Lankin, ND
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDTHail 1Southam, ND

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
Jul 12, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 254 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1999-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1355 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 1999-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 76 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1355 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2177 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 130253 RRA
TORFAR
NDC071-099-130330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
956 PM CDT MON JUL 12 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN RAMSEY COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA
  WESTERN WALSH COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 1030 PM CDT

* AT 950 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR 2 SOUTH OF
  LANKIN...OR 25 WEST OF GRAFTON.  A SECOND TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY
  DOPPLER RADAR NEAR 15 NORTHEAST OF DEVILS LAKE.  MOVEMENT WAS
  SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  LANKIN AT 955 PM CDT
  FORDVILLE AT 1000 PM CDT
  SOUTHAM AT 1010 PM CnDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO
ABANDON CAR AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

BELLES

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 12, 7:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 7:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
750 PM CDT MON JUL 12 1999

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH COORDINATED WITH SPS. MULTIPLE SUPERCELLS NOR
DROPPING SEWD INTO NORTHEAST ND...INTO VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS WITH CAPES
APPCHG 4K AND LIS MINUS 8 TO MINUS 10 IN NRN PORTIONS OF THE RRV WHERE
DEWPTS ARE HOVERING AROUND 70 DEGREES. SFC TROF SAGGING INTO AREA HAS
BEEN GOOD FOCUS POINT AND CONVECTION LIKELY TO SAG SOUTH AND THEN PUSH
ACROSS EWD.

.FGF...SVR TSTM WATCH NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
UNTIL 1AM CDT.

GUST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Towner48 min
Jul 12, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier32 min
Jul 12, 9:18 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFTraill32 min
Jul 12, 9:21 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRamsey, Walsh34 min
Jul 12, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson32 min
Jul 12, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson33 min
Jul 12, 11:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.