Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 14, 1999Marshall County, Polk County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 14, 1999, 12:55 AM CDT for Marshall County, Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 30 min. 3 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 14, 1999, 12:55 AM CDT (05:55 UTC)
Expired: Jul 14, 1999, 1:25 AM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

Counties Marshall County, MN, Polk County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:58 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 14, 1:00 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Oslo, MN
Jul 14, 1:02 AM CDT	Tornado F2	Oslo, MN	The tornado lifted the roof off a warehouse, depositing it nearly 2 miles away to the southeast. A 6-ton truck was also pushed nearly 150 yards.
Jul 14, 1:15 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Oslo, 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
Jul 13, 9:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 235 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: 923 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 133 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 140555 RRA
TORFAR
MNC089-119-140625-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1255 AM CDT WED JUL 14 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN MARSHALL COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA
  NORTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 125 AM CDT

* AT 1252 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 17 MILES NORTH OF GRAND FORKS OR 5 MILES WEST OF
  ALVARADO... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  AT OSLO NOW
  ALVARADO AT 100 AM CDT
  WARREN AT 120 AM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO THE SAFEST PLACE IdS A BASEMENT.
GET UNDER A STAIRWAY OR A PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.

JRB

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 13, 8:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 8:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 35 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
820 PM CDT TUE JUL 13 1999

RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS DEVELOPING IN NORTHEAST
NORTH DAKOTA. UPDATE WILL FOLLOW AS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH BOX IS
EXTENDED INTO NERN ND AND EXTREME NWRD MN.

SURFACE ANALYSIS PLOTS HAVE SHOWN SURFACE MOISTURE FIELDS RESPONDING
TO APPCHG SFC TROF...WHICH EXTENDS FROM YPG TO MOT TO DIK. HIGHEST
DEWPOINTS IN NRN RRV ALSO RELATE TO HIGHEST SFC LIS...WITH CAPES
APPCHG 3500 IN EXTREME NERN ND. DEVELOPING MCS NEAR MOT WILL LIKELY
ENTER EXTREME WRN FGF ZONES IN NEXT 2 HOURS WHILE TSTMS FROM SRN
MANITOBA COULD ENTER EXTREME NERN ZONES WITHIN THE HOUR. LOWER LEVEL
WIND SHEARS THROUGH ERN ND ARE NOT AS STRONG AS WESTERN AND CNTRL ND
BUT STILL FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT...HAIL THE LIKELY
THREAT.

EXPECT AIRMASS TO STABILIZE SLIGHTLY AFTER DARK WITH TRANSITION TO
HEAVY RAIN INTO MN ZONES POSSIBLE. NO STRONG MID LEVEL JET EVIDENT
ON KMBX VWP THOUGH BIS SOUNDING HAS ABOUT 50KTS AT H5. BOW ECHO
DEVELOPMENT THREAT APPEARS SLIGHT...BUT WONT ENTIRELY DISCOUNT IT.
JET HAS SAGGED APPRECIABLY IN LAST 24HRS.

COORD WITH SPC.

.FGF...SVR TSTM WATCH PENDING.

GUST

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 14, 12:40 AM CDT, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
1240 AM CDT WED JUL 14 1999

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

1045 PM    LAWTON                    ND   TORNADO
07/13/99   RAMSEY                         REPORTED BY LOCAL FIRE
                                          DEPT

1118 PM    NEW ROCKFORD              ND   .88 INCH HAIL
07/13/99   EDDY                           3S NEW ROCKFORD

1130 PM    DAHLEN                    ND   TORNADO
07/13/99   NELSON                         2.5 N DAHLEN...REPORTED BY
                                          LOCAL FIRE DEPT

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.