Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 22, 1999Ramsey County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 22, 1999, 5:25 AM CDT for Ramsey County, North Dakota. It was in force for 35 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: Jul 22, 1999, 5:25 AM CDT (10:25 UTC)
Expired: Jul 22, 1999, 6:00 AM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties

County Ramsey County, ND

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 22, 5:30 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Devils Lake, ND
Jul 22, 5:30 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Devils Lake, ND	Several large trees were uprooted.
Jul 22, 5:30 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Brocket, ND	Several large trees were blown over.
Jul 22, 5:40 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Penn, ND	Large trees were blown down and several roofs had damage.

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 22, 3:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 223 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: 3546 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 15.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 221026 RRA
TORFAR
NDC071-221100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
525 AM CDT THU JUL 22 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RAMSEY COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 600 AM CDT

* AT 548 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF DEVILS LAKE OR 5 MILES SOUTH OF
  WEBSTER... MOVING NODRTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  WEBSTER AT 529 AM CDT

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

GODON

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 22, 3:25 AM CDT, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 3:25 AM CDT, 2 hours before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
325 AM CDT THU JUL 22 1999

FCST CHALLENGE: SVR TSTM THREAT TODAY...QPF.

MODEL SELECTION: ETA CARRYING THE BALL THIS WEEK. CLOSED SFC LOW
PLACEMENT AT 06Z HANDLED WELL BY ETA ALG WITH LOW LEVEL INSTABILITY
PARAMETERS. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ETA AND NGM ON
INITIALIZATION OF DOUBLE VORT PULLING NEWD FROM MT/AB FRONT RANGE.
ETA MAINTAINS STRENGTH OF SRN VORT AND PULLS SIG UVVS THROUGH ND
INTO NWRN MN THROUGH 24HRS.

NEAR TERM: SFC LOW DEEPENING IN SWRN ND WITH SFC BOUNDARY THROUGH
NRN ND TO NRN RRV. DEWPTS IN UPER 60S TO LOW 70S ACROSS NRN FGF CWFA
WITH SFC BASED LIS STILL IN MINUS 5 OR 6 RANGE. THETAE RIDGE IN
CNTRL ND LEANING EWD INTO NWRN MN BY 18Z. MODERATE INSTABILITY
EXISTS NOW...AND WITH SIG UVVS PROGGED TO TRACK THROUGH TDY EXPECT
STRONG TO SVR TSTM ACTIVITY MOST AREAS. FIRST THREAT AREA WILL BE
NERN ND THIS AM AS BOW ECHO PATTERN MOVES ACROSS NRN ND. LOW LEVEL
SHEAR PROFILE AND INSTABILITIES WILL SUPPORT SUPPERCELL DEVLPMNT
THROUGH MIDDAY WHILE 50KT MID LEVEL JET IS TRACKING ACROSS ND ATTM.
MODERATE INSTABILITIES CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...HOWEVER LOW
LEVEL SHEAR PROFILES DIMINISH SOMEWHAT. EXPECT SVR THREAT TO SHIFT
INTO NWRN MN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

MID TERM: RIDGE REBOUNDS SLIGHTLY OVR CNTRL ND AND THETAE RIDGE
ROCKS BACK TO CNTRL AND ERN ND...WAITING FOR NEXT IMPULSE IN THE
FLOW. FRIDAY LOOKS TO BE A BETWEEN SYSTEMS DAY THOUGH THERE WILL BE
LITTLE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY.

EXTENDED: NOT MUCH TIME TO LOOK DEEP INTO EXTENDED. 00Z AVN
CONTINUES TO TARGET SAT PM AND SUNDAY AS NEXT TSTM DAY...WITH LITTLE
FOCUSED ACTIVITY FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY.

COORD WITH SPC...BIS AND MSP

.FGF...SVR TSTM WATCH 568 FOR NORTHEAST ND AND EXTREME NW MN UNTIL
9AM CDT.

GUST

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 22, 3:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Benson, Eddy	46 min
Jul 22, 4:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Ramsey, Towner	47 min
Jul 22, 5:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Ramsey	34 min
Jul 22, 5:48 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Nelson	32 min
Jul 22, 5:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Griggs	34 min
Jul 22, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Barnes, Cass	31 min
Jul 22, 6:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Barnes, Cass	46 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.