Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Bismarck, ND

June 11, 2000McLean County, Oliver County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jun 11, 2000, 6:38 PM CDT for McLean County, Oliver County, North Dakota. It was in force for 32 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jun 11, 2000, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired: Jun 11, 2000, 7:10 PM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties McLean County, ND, Oliver County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:41 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
Jun 11, 6:56 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Washburn, ND
Jun 11, 6:56 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Hensler, ND	Tornado remained in open field and moved into McLean county.
Jun 11, 7:02 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Washburn, ND	Tornado originated in Oliver county. Tornado stayed in open fields.

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
Jun 11, 4:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 63 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1248 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 237 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 305 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KBIS 112341
TORBIS
NDC055-065-120010-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
638 PM CDT SUN JUN 11 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN MCLEAN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
  EASTERN OLIVER COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 710 PM CDT

* AT 638 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO FORMING OVER HENSLER...OR ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  WASHBURN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
   5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WASHBURN AT 650 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED 
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4721 10125 4708 10107 4736 10071 4759 10083

JP MARTIN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 11, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Renville	49 min
Jun 11, 4:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Ward	39 min
Jun 11, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Grant, Hettinger	59 min
Jun 11, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Morton	59 min
Jun 11, 5:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Renville, Ward	31 min
Jun 11, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean, Mercer, Oliver	54 min
Jun 11, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bottineau	66 min
Jun 11, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Bottineau, McHenry, Renville	45 min
Jun 11, 5:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Ward	37 min
Jun 11, 6:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burleigh, McLean, Oliver	45 min
Jun 11, 6:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bottineau, McHenry	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.