Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 3, 2001Hettinger County, Slope County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 2001, 2:41 PM MDT for Hettinger County, Slope County, North Dakota. It was in force for 49 min. 4 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: Jul 3, 2001, 2:41 PM MDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 2001, 3:30 PM MDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Hettinger County, ND, Slope County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:45 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 3, 2:41 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Amidon, ND	Multiple brief touchdown's in open country. Reported by three different sources. The sighting occurred just west of the Slope-Hettinger county line.
Jul 3, 2:49 PM MDT	Tornado F0	New England, ND	Multi brief touchdowns in open country.
Jul 3, 3:15 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Regent, ND
Jul 3, 3:21 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Regent, ND	Briefly touched down in open country.

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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 160 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1876 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 95 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 032043
TORBIS

NDC041-087-032130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
241 PM MDT TUE JUL 3 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HETTINGER COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA
  NORTHEASTERN SLOPE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 330 PM MDT

* AT 241 PM MDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF NEW 
ENGLAND OR ABOUT 31 MILES SOUTH OF DICKINSON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 
30 MPH.

TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE REGENT AND MOTT.

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

LAT...LON 4661 10315 4646 10296 4625 10240 4661 10215

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 3:13 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Grant, Sioux	32 min
Jul 3, 3:26 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BIS	Adams	34 min
Jul 3, 3:59 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Adams	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.