Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 44, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1999, 9:40 PM CDT for Ransom County, North Dakota. 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
- Aug 15, 1999, 9:40 PM CDT (02:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 15, 1999, 10:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Ransom County, ND
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:40 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 nearest sounding before it
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 182 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
- 1506 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -180 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1978 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 179 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 259 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 8.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFAR 160241 RRA TORFAR NDC073-160315- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 940 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... EASTERN RANSOM COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA * UNTIL 1015 PM CDT * AT 939 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 32 MILES SOUTHEAST OF VALLEY CITY OR 8 MILES WEST OF ANSELM... MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... SHELDON AT 955 PM CDT ANSELM AT 956 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 ANDP 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, 9:00 PM CDT, 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 9:00 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND 900 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999 UPR LVL TROF AXIS OVR ERN MT INTO SRN AB ROTATING TO A NEG TILT. H5 UPR AIR SHOWING GOOD RISE FALL COUPLET WITH MT TROF. DRY SLOT RUNS FM SRN CA INTO CNTRL ND. VORT MAX OVR NE MT AND ANOTHER OVR SRN AB WITH ETA WITH A REASONABLE SOLUTION. WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWS SOME RIDGE BUILDING ACRS THE THE FAR SRN CWFA HOWEVER ROTATING NEG TILT TROF IS KNOCKING RIDGE DOWN. ETA H7 TEMPS FCST TO FALL ACRS THE CWFA AND RELEASE THE CAP. MUCH DRIER AIR TO MOV IN AOA 600 HPA ALONG WITH INCRG H7 WIND SPEED WL MAKE FOR POTENTIAL FOR WND DAMAGE AND FAST MOVG STORMS. ADAP HAS MOST UNSTABLE AIR AND WEAKEST CAP OVR NE SD AND EXTENDS N WHERE 88D HAS CURRENT LINE OF STORMS. ALSO SFC MSTR FLUX CONVERGENCE ORIENTATED N-S WITH TSRA. PRES RISES AND MORE STABLE AIR WERE MOVG INTO WRN ND. WL CONT TREND OF TSRA MOVG E ACRS CWFA. WL UPDATE ZONES. .FGF...SVR THUNDERSTORM WATCH 642 IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CDT FOR ALL ERN ND COUNTIES XCP RANSOM, SARGENT, AND RICHLAND. HOPPES
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 15, 4:17 PM CDT, 5 hours 23 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, 4 hours 24 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
HAILLocal storm report, Aug 15, 9:06 PM CDT, 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
906 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999...CORRECTION FOR COUNTY
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0855 PM 7 W LITCHVILLE ND TORNADO
08/15/99 BARNES BRIEF TOUCHDOWN IN FIELD
0903 PM LITCHVILLE ND .75 INCH HAIL
08/15/99 BARNESLocal storm report, Aug 15, 9:06 PM CDT, 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS
906 PM CDT SUN AUG 15 1999...CORRECTION FOR COUNTY
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0855 PM 7 W LITCHVILLE ND TORNADO
08/15/99 BARNES BRIEF TOUCHDOWN IN FIELD
0903 PM LITCHVILLE ND .75 INCH HAIL
08/15/99 BARNESThe 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, 8:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Barnes | 49 min |
| Aug 15, 9:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Barnes, Ransom | 49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.