Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 59, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 20, 2001Jackson County, Minnesota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 2001, 12:30 PM CDT for Jackson County, Minnesota. It was in force for 30 min. 1 report 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 20, 2001, 12:30 PM CDT (17:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 2001, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Jackson County, MN

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:32 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 20, 12:39 PM CDTTornado F0Okabena, MNA tornado damaged corn crops, but the amount of crop damage was not known.

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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 183 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2001-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1359 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2001-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 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
1359 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
858 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFSD 201730
TORFSD

MNC063-201800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1230 PM CDT FRI JUL 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 100 PM CDT

* AT 1230 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HERON LAKE...OR ABOUT 12 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF WORTHINGTON...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  HERON LAKE AROUND 1240 PM CDT

JACKSON COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED FUNNELS 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HERON 
LAKE AT 1223 PM CDT.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

LAT...LON 4377 9544 4366 9545 4374 9511 4384 9515

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.