Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 27, 1999Wilkin County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 27, 1999, 5:20 PM CDT for Wilkin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 35 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 27, 1999, 5:20 PM CDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 1999, 5:55 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Wilkin County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:23 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 27, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 221 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1999-07-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1999-07-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-442 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1364 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 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.

000 
TTAA00 KFAR 272223 COR
TORFAR
MNC167-272255-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
522 PM CDT TUE JUL 27 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN WILKIN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  
* UNTIL 555 PM CDT

* AT 518 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES SOUTH OF WAHPETON OR 7 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF DORAN...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  DORAN AT 526 PM CDT
  TENNEY AT 529 PM CDT

DO NOT OUTRUN A TORNADO IN YOUR CAR.  LEAVE YOUR CAR AND GO TO A
STRONG BUILDING OR SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOnT.

SOROKA

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 27, 2:15 PM CDT, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 2:15 PM CDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
215 PM CDT WED JUL 27 1999

FCST CHALLENGE: SVR THREAT IN NW FLOW REGIME...TNGT AND TMRW NGT.

MODEL SELECTION: ETA INCOMPLETE. NGM/ETA FAIR ON UPR FEATURES AND
INITIALIZING WELL ON WEAK VORT IN SERN SASK. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
FIELDS ARE SOMEWHAT WEAK...12Z RUC WAS BETTER. WILL USE NGM
PRIMARILY.

NEAR TERM: MODELS WEAK ON HANDLING MOISTURE/INSTABILITY SURGE AHEAD
OF SFC TROF...NOW ENTERING ERN ND. 18Z ABR SOUNDING SHOWS CAPE
VALUES AROUND 4K WHILE ETA HAS AXIS OF 3-4K BAND BACK IN CNTRL SD.
SFC DEWPTS APCHG 70 IN SERN ND WITH CONVECTION FIRING NEAR JMS. LOW
LEVEL SHEAR PROFILES SHOW GOOD VEERING BLO H7. H5 ANALYSIS HAD
SEMBLANCE OF WEAK COUPLED JET OVR FGF CWFA BETWEEN NRN AND SRN
BRANCH FLOW. 50KTS AT H5 GENERALLY SUPPORTING GOOD DIVERGENCE ALOFT.
WILL COORD WITH SPC ON LATE AFTERNOON SVR TSTM WATCH AREA. FAN TEMPS
LOOK REASONABLE AS DEWPTS SHOULD STAY UP A BIT.

MID TERM: PATTERN REPEATS ON WEDNESDAY...WITH WEAK SFC BOUNDARY
PUSHING INTO ERN ND AT MAX HEATING AND WK UPR WAVE IN NW FLOW
PATTERN. WILL STICK WITH WDLY SCT AFTERNOON TSTMS ND ZONES. PM TSTMS
IN MN ZONES.

EXTENDED: LONG RANGE MODELS SIMILAR IN THEIR HANDLING OF THE
REDEVELOPMENT OF HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST THROUGH
THE EXTENDED FORECAST PERIOD. IN GENERAL...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE REMAINS
OVER MT AND WRN ND AREA WITH UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVING SOUTH FROM
CANADA INTO GREAT LAKES AREA. ONLY CHANCE FOR PCPN APPEARS ON
SATURDAY NIGHT AS FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH LOW MOVES THROUGH THE CWFA.
CWFA THEN REMAINS BETWEEN THESE SYSTEMS FOR REST OF EXTENDED
FORECAST PERIOD. WITH THE MAJORITY OF CWFA ON COLD SIDE OF
RIDGE...EXPECT TEMPS TO HOLD AROUND NORMALS.

.FGF...TOR WATCH #591 UNTIL 7PM CDT...PORTIONS OF ERN ND AND NW MN.

GUST/GODON

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 27, 12:48 PM CDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
AMD
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052-053-271910-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1248 PM CDT TUE JUL 27 1999

...SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS EXTREME EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...

SYNOPSIS...WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR WILL CONTINUE TO WORK
NORTHWARD   ACROSS EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. AT
THE SAME TIME A STRONG UPPER-LEVEL JET STREAM AND SURFACE TROUGH
WILL WORK INTO EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA. ALL OF THESE COMBINED WILL
PRODUCE SUFFICIENT LIFT AND INSTABILITY TO PRODUCE AREAS OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE WILL ALSO BE
ENOUGH WIND SHEAR THAT A FEW TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS.

AREA OF CONCERN...A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS FORECAST
SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM FORT RANSOM TO GRANDIN AND EAST TO
BEMIDJI. A SLIGHT RISK IS EXPECTED EAST OF A LINE FROM COOPERSTOWN
TO HALLOCK MINNESOTA.

TIME...START AFTER 2 PM AND SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE AREA TOWARDS
MIDNIGHT.

TYPE OF HAZARD...MAINLY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. HOWEVER
A FEW TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

PERSONS SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO AND
TELEVISION FOR FURTHER FORECASTS AND POSSIBLE WATCHES LATER THIS
AFTERNOON.
Special weather statement, Jul 27, 3:58 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
MNZ001>003-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ027-029-030-038-039-
049-052-053-280055-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
358 PM CDT TUE JUL 27 1999

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND
PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THIS WATCH EXTENDS
SOUTH FROM A LARIMORE TO THIEF RIVER FALLS AND LOWER RED LAKE
LINE. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF GOLFBALL TO BASEBALL SIZED HAIL HAVE BEEN
RECEIVED ALONG A LINE OF STORMS FROM ADA SOUTHWESTWARD TO ARTHUR AND
ENDERLIN. THESE STORMS ARE GENERALLY MOVING EAST BUT DEVELOPM>ENT TO
THE NORTHEAST IS EXPECTED. THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE TORNADOS. THE
PUBLIC SHOULD STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER
WARNINGS OR ADVISORIES.

GUST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay, Norman33 min
Jul 27, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay, Norman32 min
Jul 27, 4:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMahnomen34 min
Jul 27, 4:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater32 min
Jul 27, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay32 min
Jul 27, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Hubbard33 min
Jul 27, 5:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker34 min
Jul 27, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami34 min

Nearby

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