Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Grand Forks, ND

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

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2001, 4:21 PM CDT for Pennington County, Red Lake County, Minnesota. It was in force for 24 min. 2 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, 4:21 PM CDT (21:21 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2001, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
24 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, 4:35 PM CDTHail 0.75Plummer, MN
May 15, 4:35 PM CDTHail 1High Lndg, 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 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 207 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°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 152122
TORFAR

MNC113-125-152145-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 445 PM CDT

* AT 417 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER PLUMMER...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THIEF RIVER
  FALLS...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  ROLAND AT 435 PM CDT

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 4803 9616 4785 9614 4794 9571 4808 9562
$$
NNNN

c

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, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPennington, Red Lake30 min
May 15, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk33 min
May 15, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail, Wadena40 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.