Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 33, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 12, 1999Rice County, Scott County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1999, 8:59 PM CDT for Rice County, Scott County, Minnesota. It was in force for 31 min. 1 report 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 12, 1999, 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1999, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Rice County, MN, Scott County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:00 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 12, 9:15 PM CDTTornado F0Lonsdale, MNA few trees down. Continuation of the Le Sueur County tornado.

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 nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 41 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1999-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 862 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1999-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 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
862 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMPX 130200 RRA
TORMSP
MNC131-139-130230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
859 PM CDT THU AUG 12 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEAST SCOTT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  NORTHERN RICE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 859 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEW MARKET...OR ABOUT 17
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF BURNSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  ELKO
  NEW MARKET
  VESELI
  WEBSTER
  
GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOBM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME...ABANDON IT AND GO TO A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD!

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 8:39 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXLe Sueur36 min
Aug 12, 9:32 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXDakota, Scott28 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.