Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 15, 2001Pennington County, Red Lake County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2001, 3:50 PM CDT for Pennington County, Red Lake County, Minnesota. It was in force for 30 min. 6 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
May 15, 2001, 3:50 PM CDT (20:50 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2001, 4:20 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Pennington County, MN, Red Lake County, MN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 15, 3:58 PM CDTHail 1.75Dorothy, MN
May 15, 3:58 PM CDTThunderstorm WindDorothy, MNA barn roof was torn off and thrown in a nearby ditch, damaging the top of a silo as it went by.
May 15, 4:00 PM CDTHail 0.75St Hilaire, MN
May 15, 4:00 PM CDTHail 1.25Red Lake Falls, MN
May 15, 4:05 PM CDTHail 2St Hilaire, MN
May 15, 4:06 PM CDTHail 1.75Red Lake Falls, MNEight windows in a house, 2 garage windows, and a car window were broken by the large hail.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 15, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 230 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 2001-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2001-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
580 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 152051
TORFAR

MNC113-125-152120-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND-GRAND FORKS
350 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN PENNINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
  NORTHERN RED LAKE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 420 PM CDT

* AT 347 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER DOROTHY...OR ABOUT 18 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THIEF RIVER
  FALLS...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  HUOT AT 355 PM CDT
  WYLIE AT 400 PM CDT
  RED LAKE FALLS AT 410 PM CDT
  ST. HILAIRE AT 415 PM CDT

THIS IS AN UPGRADE FROM THE PREVIOUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR 
WESTERN PENNINGTON COUNTY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT
TUESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4804 9649 4786 9648 4784 9594 4812 9603

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk57 min
May 15, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPennington36 min
May 15, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker44 min
May 15, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk33 min
May 15, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail, Wadena40 min
May 15, 4:21 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPennington, Red Lake24 min
May 15, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker28 min
May 15, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFHubbard29 min
May 15, 4:47 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBeltrami, Clearwater28 min
May 15, 4:47 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPolk28 min
May 15, 5:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard49 min
May 15, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBeltrami30 min
May 15, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau24 min
May 15, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFLake of the Woods45 min
May 15, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami19 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes 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.