Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 42, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1999, 8:41 PM CDT for Barnes County, North Dakota. It was in force for 49 min. 5 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
- Aug 15, 1999, 8:41 PM CDT (01:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 15, 1999, 9:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Barnes County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 8:55 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Litchville, ND | The tornado briefly touched down in a field. |
| Aug 15, 8:57 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Litchville, ND | The tornado began south and west of Litchville, travelling mostly through open country before it crossed briefly into Lamoure county. It then crossed into Ransom county, where it dissipated north of Lisbon. |
| Aug 15, 9:00 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Litchville, ND | |
| Aug 15, 9:03 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Litchville, ND | |
| Aug 15, 9:12 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Hastings, ND | The tornado briefly touched down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 201 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2218 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 899 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 32 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 52 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 3.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 160142 RRA TORFAR NDC003-160230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 841 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHWESTERN BARNES COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA * UNTIL 930 PM CDT * AT 839 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 29 MILES SOUTHWEST OF VALLEY CITY OR 16 MILES WEST OF LITCHVILLE... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM DOES HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR LITCHVILLE AT 910 PM CDT HASTINGS AT 920 PM CDT IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE THEN SEEK SHELTER IN AN INNERMOST ROOM..|.SUCH AS A CLOSET...ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOURSELF WITH BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS. BRAZZELL
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 Aug 15, 2:40 PM CDT, 6 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 2:40 PM CDT, 6 hours 1 minute before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 240 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999 FCST CHALLENGE...SHORT TERM TSTM/SVR WX. SFC LOW NEAR LOCATED BTWN BIS/MBG AT 18Z WITH SFC PRESSURE FALLS INDICATE A TRACK EAST TO JUST NORTH OF KABR BY 00Z. THIS FOLLOWS ETA CLOSELY. SVR STORMS HAVE BEEN FIRING ALL DAY NR SFC/85H WARM FRONT FROM NE ND AND NW MN...AND EMPAHSIS HAS SHIFTED TO BACK BUILDING STORMS IN NW MN WITH LARGE HAIL POTENTIAL. EARLIER STORMS IN NE ND WAS GIVING DIME HAIL WITH VILS OF 50. .SHORT TERM... WATER VAPOR SHOWS NICE SPIN OVER CNTRL MT AROUND UPR LOW...ETA/NGM CLOSE IN AGREEMENT WITH POSITION WITH THIS AND TRACK STRONG 28 VORT MAX TO EXTREME NE ND BY 06Z. POTENTIAL FOR NEW ACTIVITY IN WRN ND/ERN MT TO MOVE ENE ACROSS AT LEAST NW 1/2 CWFA TONIGHT. SE ND AND WCNTRL MN SHOULD SEE LESS POTENTIAL AS CAP HAS PREVENTED SFC BASED CONVECTION FROM FIRING AND ELEVATED ACTIVITY ALONG WARM FRONT IS TO THE NORTH. WILL HIT PCPN HARDEST TONIGHT NRN ZONES BUT AT LEAST MAINTAIN WIDELY SCT TSRA IN SOUTH ZONES. EXPECT MAIN THREAT TO BE OVER IN ERN ND BY 06Z...BUT WILL NOT BE FANCY WITH TIMING TONIGHT. .LONGER TERM... UPR LOW TO BE NR WINNIPEG BY 12Z WITH SFC LOW WRAPPED UP IN SRN MB AS WELL. THIS SYSTEM TO MOVE EAST ON MONDAY. STRONG SUBSIDENCE ON SOUTH SIDE OF SYSTEM ALONG WITH 85H WINDS OF 35-45KTS WILL ENSURE A WINDY DAY...SPCLY SOUTH ZONES. COOLER 50H TEMPS ALONG WITH VORT ALONG INTERNATIONAL BORDER AND COLD ADVECTION WILL DEVELOP CU ACROSS CWFA...WITH CHC SHRA ACROSS THE NORTH. WILL DROP PCPN CHANCES IN THE SOUTH AS AREA UNDER GREATER SUBSIDENCE. NEXT 50H SYSTEM WILL DROP SOUTH INTO FAR NRN PLAINS ON TUESDAY AS UPR RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE NRN ROCKIES/PAC NORTHWEST. WILL BRING CHC POPS TO AREA ON TUESDAY. AS FOR TEMPS...FCST SOUNDINGS INDICATE FWC TEMPS PRETTY CLOSE TO WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN. IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED...WILL HAVE WORK ZONES OUT BEFORE 330 PM. .FGF...NONE. RIDDLE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 2:48 PM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>028-152050- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 248 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 640 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN CANCELLED... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN OVER NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON...NORTH OF A JAMESTOWN TO HILLSBORO LINE...BUT NO WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON. THUS THE WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED EARLY. REPEATING...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR GRAND FORKS...NELSON...RAMSEY...BENSON...EDDY...GRIGGS...WALSH... TOWNER... CAVALIER... AND PEMBINA COUNTIES. THERE WILL REMAIN THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER TO RE-DEVELOP LATER THIS EVENING AND RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS.
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 2:48 PM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
NDZ006>008-014>016-024-026>028-152050- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 248 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 640 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA HAS BEEN CANCELLED... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN OVER NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON...NORTH OF A JAMESTOWN TO HILLSBORO LINE...BUT NO WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON. THUS THE WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED EARLY. REPEATING...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR GRAND FORKS...NELSON...RAMSEY...BENSON...EDDY...GRIGGS...WALSH... TOWNER... CAVALIER... AND PEMBINA COUNTIES. THERE WILL REMAIN THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER TO RE-DEVELOP LATER THIS EVENING AND RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS.
Local storm report, Aug 15, 3:36 PM CDT, 5 hours 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
336 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0215 PM 15 E WARREN MN 1.25 INCH HAIL
08/15/99 MARSHALL HALF DOLLAR SIZED HAIL
FELL FROM 215 TO 230 PMLocal storm report, Aug 15, 4:17 PM CDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
417 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1110 AM 11 NE GRAFTON ND .75 INCH HAIL
08/15/99 WALSH DIME SIZE HAILLocal storm report, Aug 15, 5:16 PM CDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
516 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0230 PM WASKISH MN 1.75 INCH HAIL
08/15/99 BELTRAMI 4E WASKISH GOLFBALL SIZE
HAILThe office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 15, 7:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Benson | 48 min |
| Aug 15, 8:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Eddy | 35 min |
| Aug 15, 9:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Barnes, Ransom | 49 min |
| Aug 15, 9:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Ransom | 35 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.