Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 20, 2001Billings County, Golden Valley County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 2001, 8:36 PM MDT for Billings County, Golden Valley County, North Dakota. It was in force for 54 min. 1 report 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: Jul 20, 2001, 8:36 PM MDT (02:36 UTC)
Expired: Jul 20, 2001, 9:30 PM MDT
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Billings County, ND, Golden Valley County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 227 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:39 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
Jul 20, 8:58 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Beach, ND

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
Jul 20, 4:00 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 231 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: 2408 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 220 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 10.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KBIS 210253
TORBIS

NDC007-033-210330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...RE-TRANSMITTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
836 PM MDT FRI JUL 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BILLINGS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA
  GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 930 PM MDT

* AT 836 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 26 MILES 
  SOUTHWEST OF TROTTERS...OR ABOUT 75 MILES SOUTHWEST OF             
  WILLISTON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  TROTTERS AT 900 PM MDT
  BEACH AT 910 PM MDT
  SENTINEL BUTTE AT 915 PM MDT
  MEDORA AT 920 PM MDT

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM MDT FRIDAY EVENING
FOR WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 1100 PM MDT FRIDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4731 10402 4667 10403 4666 10324 4731 10326

JENSEN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 20, 6:47 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Divide, Williams	58 min
Jul 20, 7:51 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie, Williams	54 min
Jul 20, 7:51 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Divide	54 min
Jul 20, 8:43 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burke, Divide, Williams	62 min
Jul 20, 8:43 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McKenzie, Mountrail	62 min
Jul 20, 9:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Ward	36 min
Jul 20, 9:32 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Billings, Golden Valley	58 min
Jul 20, 9:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burke, Mountrail, Ward	30 min
Jul 20, 9:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Dunn	60 min
Jul 20, 10:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Renville, Ward	59 min
Jul 20, 10:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McLean	59 min
Jul 20, 10:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Stark	64 min
Jul 20, 10:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Mercer, Oliver	66 min
Jul 20, 11:01 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	McHenry, McLean	59 min
Jul 20, 11:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Morton	64 min
Jul 20, 11:28 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Pierce, Sheridan	62 min
Jul 20, 11:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Adams, Bowman	36 min
Jul 20, 11:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Burleigh, Morton, Oliver	56 min
Jul 21, 12:04 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Grant	56 min
Jul 21, 12:24 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Emmons, Kidder	66 min
Jul 21, 12:25 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Adams, Bowman	35 min
Jul 21, 12:40 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Wells	50 min
Jul 21, 12:55 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Foster, Stutsman	50 min
Jul 21, 1:06 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Adams	39 min
Jul 21, 1:44 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Foster, Stutsman	31 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.