Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 254, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 5, 2001Polk County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 2001, 6:20 PM CDT for Polk County, Minnesota. It was in force for 40 min. 3 reports 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 5, 2001, 6:20 PM CDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 2001, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:22 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 5, 6:44 PM CDTHail 0.75Girard, MN
Aug 5, 6:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Crookston, MN
Aug 5, 7:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Harold, MN

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

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 246 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2001-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1664 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2001-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 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
1664 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
884 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KFGF 052320
SVRFAR

MNC119-060000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND-GRAND FORKS
620 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT.

* AT 617 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES WEST OF FISHER...OR ABOUT 13 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF GRAND FORKS...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  FISHER AT 625 PM CDT...
  ELDRED AT 635 PM CDT...
  CROOKSTON AT 645 PM CDT AND
  GREENVIEW |AT 700 PM CDT.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.


$$

14

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 5, 3:25 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 3:25 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
325 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2001

FORECAST CHALLENGE IS PCPN. CURRENT SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CWFA
REMNANT CI AND AC OVER W AND E PARTS OF CWFA WITH REMAINDER SKC.
LATEST MSAS SFC PRESSURE ANALYSIS HAS LOW CENTERED IN S MB N OF
ROX...WITH COLD FRONT EXTENDING THROUGH CWFA ALONG A ROX-GFK-JMS
LINE. WHEN COMPARING INITIALIZATION CONDITIONS TO MODELS...AVN
CLOSEST MATCH. COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH MUCH OF CWFA BY 06Z
MON...AND WITH CAP DECREASING AS GO INTO EVENING...ANTICIPATE TSRA
TO REDEVELOP. CONSIDERING THAT CAPES ABOUT 3000...LI'S -5 TO -12
OVER CWFA...AND BEST SHEAR IN FAR E CWFA...COULD SEE SOME SVR THIS
EVENING. AS A RESULT...LEFT CHC TSRA IN S VALLEY AND MN SIDE OF
CWFA. WITH DRIER DEWPOINTS WORKING IN BEHIND COLD FRONT...WILL LET
HEAT ADVISORY EXPIRE.

ON MON...SFC HIGH MOVES THROUGH CWFA WITH PLENTY OF SUN...ALLOWING
TEMPS TO RETURN TO 85 TO 95 RANGE. SFC HIGH MOVES E OF CWFA MON
NIGHT...ALLOWING RETURN FLOW TO SET UP AHEAD OF NEXT LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM. SHOWALTERS GO NEGATIVE WITH STRONG WAA...PROVIDING
POTENTIAL FOR ELEVATED CONVECTION MOVING INTO CENTRAL ND...SO KEPT
CHC TSRA FOR DVL SET. SFC LOW TRACKS INTO W ND BY 00Z WED...WITH
LI'S GOING NEGATIVE AS WARM FRONT PUSHES THROUGH N CWFA INTO CANADA.
THEREFORE...KEPT CHC POPS FOR TSRA. ON TUE NIGHT...SFC LOW STARTS
MOVING E ACROSS ND...GIVING BEST POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL TSRA
ACROSS N CWFA...SO WENT LIKELY POPS N CWFA AND CHC POPS S CWFA.

EXTENDED...MEAN H5 CIRCULATION ATTEMPTS TO TRANSITION FM A MUDDY 5
WAVE PATTERN TO A MORE STABLE THREE WAVE PATTERN BY DAY 5. HOT RIDGE
IN CNTRL U.S. FLATTENS ACROSS ENTIRE CAN/AM BDR BY DAY 2...WITH A
ERN NOAM TROF DEEPENING AFTER. PATTERN SHOULD SPELL TEMP/PCPN RELIEF
FOR THE BAKED AND SOAKED NRN PLAINS AFT WED WHEN TEMPS DROP NEAR TO
BLO NORMALS. MAIN TSTM ACTIVITY SHOULD DEPART THE AREA ON WED. DRY
PATTERN EXPECTED AFTER THOUGH ECMWF AND NEW AVN HINT AT SHRTWV TROF
ACTION ON FRIDAY.

.FGF...NONE.

NG/GUST

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 5, 3:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-052330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
350 PM CDT SUN AUG 5 2001

...HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS TO SLOWLY ABATE THIS EVENING...

THE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WHICH HAVE PLAGUED THE NORTHERN PLAINS
FOR THE LAST FEW DAYS WILL SLOWLY ABATE THROUGH THE EVENING PERIOD.
AS A RESULT...THE HEAT ADVISORIES FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND
NORTHWEST MINNESOTA WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

A WEAK SURFACE COLD FRONT IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WILL MOVE
THROUGH NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL TURN OUT OF THE
WEST TO NORTHWEST OVERNIGHT BRINGING SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR INTO THE
AREA. CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT WILL STILL REMAIN QUITE WARM FOR THIS
TIME OF YEAR...AND AFTER THESE LAST FEW DAYS OF EXTREMELY STRESSFUL
HEAT...PERSONS WITH HEALTH RISKS SHOULD BE CLOSELY MONITORED.

GUST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 2001Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.