Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 179, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 12, 2000Pembina County, Walsh County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 12, 2000, 1:25 AM CDT for Pembina County, Walsh County, North Dakota. It was in force for 30 min. 9 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: Aug 12, 2000, 1:25 AM CDT (06:25 UTC)
Expired: Aug 12, 2000, 1:55 AM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Pembina County, ND, Walsh County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:28 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 12, 1:35 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70 M	Concrete, ND	A 70 knot wind gust was measured at the Cavalier Air Force Station.
Aug 12, 1:36 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Mountain, ND	Tree damage was reported in Mountain.
Aug 12, 1:45 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 54 E	Grafton, ND	Two potato warehouse roofs were blown off in Grafton.
Aug 12, 1:45 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Cavalier, ND	Numerous trees were damaged around the town.
Aug 12, 1:50 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Gilby, ND	A roof was blown off a building.
Aug 12, 1:55 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Gilby, ND	Trees were damaged by the wind.
Aug 12, 2:00 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61 E	Grafton, ND	Trees were damaged by the wind.
Aug 12, 2:00 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	St Thomas, ND	Trees were blown down west of St. Thomas.
Aug 12, 2:05 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Cavalier, ND	A tree was blown onto a roof.

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 11, 9:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr
Aug 12, 1:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 297 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: 2271 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 8.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KFGF 120627
SVRFAR
NDC035-067-099-120655-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND-GRAND FORKS
125 AM CDT SAT AUG 12 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN GRAND FORKS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
  PEMBINA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
  EASTERN WALSH COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF GRAFTON

* UNTIL 155 AM CDT

* AT 122 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THE LEADING EDGE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING
  FROM 16 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LANGDON TO 26 MILES WEST OF GRAFTON TO
  42 MILES WEST OF GRAND FORKS...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 45 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  EDINBURG AT 130 AM CDT...
  PARK RIVER AT 135 AM CDT...
  AKRA AT 140 AM CDT...
  CRYSTAL AT 145 AM CDT...

DURING THUNDERSTORMS YOU SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT
STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 AM CDT 
SATURDAY MORNING FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. 

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIND DAMAGE...TAKE SHELTER NOW!

LAT...LON 4876 9793 4834 9789 4789 9784 4794 9709
          4831 9720 4893 9726

NNNN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 11, 9:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 11, 9:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
900 PM FRI AUG 11 2000

SW UPR LVL JET MOVG INTO SW MAN FCST TO MOV INTO WRN ONT BY MORN
WITH THE NRN COUNTIES IN THE RRQ. WATER VAPOR LOOP SHOWING DARK BAND
FM CA INTO SW MAN AND SPREADING NE. SHORT WV OVR SRN SASK IS
REASONABLE. QUITE UNSTABLE ATMOS WITH LIS AS LOW AS -12 OVR N CNTRL
ND. SFC BASED CAPES 1500+ J/KG OVR NW COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE MESO
ETA. HOWEVER CINS WERE ALSO FAIRLY HI. ETA MODEL SNDGS SHOW WM AIR
ARND 700 HPA WAS CREATING THE HI CINS. 700 HA CAA FCST OVR THE NRN
COUNTIES TNGT. BACKING WND PROFILE ENTERING SW MAN AND IS FCST TO
SHFT INTO SW ONT BY MORN. BACKING ALSO OCCURS ACRS ND TNGT BUT LAGS
THE CAA ACRS SRN MAN LEAVING LOW LVL CONVERGENCE ACRS THE NRN VLY BY
MIDN. MESO SCALE ANLYS HAS SFC PRES RISES MOVG INTO SW MAN AND NW
ND. GOOD SFC MSTR FLUX CONVERGENCE INDICATED FM NR BIS INTO TOWNER
COUNTY AS SFC WNDS HAVE BECM NW IN WRN ND. KMBX VAD WND HAD A LGT NW
WND IN THE FIRST 2 THSD FT. KBIS AND KMVX VAD WND HAD A SOUTH WND
30-35KTS BLO 5-6 THSD FT. NNW-SSE AXIS OF SFC MIXING RATIOS OF
16G/KG WAS OVR THE ERN HALF OF ND AND ADJ PARTS OF MN. FAST MOVG
TSRA HAS MOVD INTO NW ND AND TSRA HAVE DEVELOPED IN SE MAN JUST N OF
THE INTERNATIONAL BDR. SO WL FOCUS ON TSRA MAINLY OVR NRN COUNTIES
TNGT. WL CHECK ZONES.

.FGF...NONE.
HOPPES

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 11, 10:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Towner	29 min
Aug 12, 12:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Benson, Ramsey	46 min
Aug 12, 12:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Eddy	46 min
Aug 12, 12:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Benson, Nelson, Ramsey, Walsh	59 min
Aug 12, 12:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Eddy	59 min
Aug 12, 1:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Grand Forks	30 min
Aug 12, 1:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Pembina, Walsh	30 min
Aug 12, 1:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Grand Forks	30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 2000 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.