Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 18, 2001Griggs County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 2001, 6:04 PM CDT for Griggs County, North Dakota. It was in force for 26 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 18, 2001, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 2001, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Griggs County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:08 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
Jul 18, 6:04 PM CDTTornado F0Binford, NDA brief touchdown was reported.
Jul 18, 6:05 PM CDTTornado F3Pekin, NDA tornado hit the home of the Nelson county sheriff, who was out of town at the time. The tornado tore the roof off the house and destroyed the barn. A piece of farm machinery was thrown through the bedroom wall and a tractor was hurled 75 yards. The sherif
Jul 18, 6:09 PM CDTTornado F0Binford, NDA brief touchdown was reported.
Jul 18, 6:35 PM CDTTornado F0Binford, NDA brief touchdown was reported.

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
Jul 18, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2001-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1501 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2001-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 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
1501 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-233 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
728 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 182304
TORFAR

NDC039-063-182330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND-GRAND FORKS
604 PM CDT WED JUL 18 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  NORTHWESTERN GRIGGS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT.

* AT 603 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF RED WILLOW LAKE...OR ABOUT 38 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF DEVILS LAKE...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  RED WILLOW LAKE AT 605 PM CDT AND
  MCVILLE AT 630 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 TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4766 9850 4754 9841 4778 9800 4781 9826


$$
08
DJK

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRansom42 min
Jul 17, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRichland48 min
Jul 17, 7:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRamsey, Walsh49 min
Jul 17, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom43 min
Jul 17, 8:10 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRichland35 min
Jul 17, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Cass47 min
Jul 17, 8:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom53 min
Jul 17, 8:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland48 min
Jul 17, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass32 min
Jul 17, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom, Richland31 min
Jul 17, 9:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom37 min
Jul 17, 9:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland48 min
Jul 17, 10:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSargent40 min
Jul 17, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom34 min
Jul 17, 10:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland35 min
Jul 17, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes40 min
Jul 18, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Cass45 min
Jul 18, 12:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGriggs49 min
Jul 18, 1:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass63 min
Jul 18, 2:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSteele38 min
Jul 18, 2:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass62 min
Jul 18, 3:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina49 min
Jul 18, 4:22 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPembina38 min
Jul 18, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson47 min
Jul 18, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina48 min
Jul 18, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFNelson30 min
Jul 18, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFGriggs, Nelson, Steele49 min
Jul 18, 6:32 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFWalsh43 min
Jul 18, 6:36 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPembina24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.