Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 205, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 17, 2001Kandiyohi County, Meeker County, Stearns County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 2001, 8:43 PM CDT for Kandiyohi County, Meeker County, Stearns County, Minnesota. It was in force for 47 min. 1 report 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 17, 2001, 8:43 PM CDT (01:43 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2001, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Kandiyohi County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Stearns County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:43 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 17, 9:04 PM CDTHail 1Richmond, 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
Aug 17, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 00:00Z on 2001-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 478 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2001-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
478 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1766 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 17, 3:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 3:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
315 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 2001

VISIBLE SATELLITE INDICATES ALTOCUMULUS INCREASING INTO CENTRAL
MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THE ETA MODEL SHOWS THIS
INSTABILITY INCREASING INTO TONIGHT ALLOWING FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY
WARNING AREA AND TRAVEL SOUTHEASTERLY INTO WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
LATER. THE MESOETA HAS 1000 JOULES OF CAPE BEGINNING TO SINK DOWN
OVER TODD...MORRISON...STEVENS AND MILLE LACS COUNTIES FOR THIS
EVENING. THE MESOETA AT 21Z SHOWS 0.88 OF PRECIPITABLE WATER AND
THEN INCREASES TO 1.4 AT 06Z OVER SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA. ETA MODEL
FORECASTS BOUNDARY LAYER CONVERGENCE TO INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY IN
THE VICINITY OF THE COLD FRONT AFTER 00Z ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA.
INSTABILITY...AVAILABLE MOISTURE...AND IMPLIED LIFT SUGGEST THAT
CONVECTION IS LIKELY FOR TONIGHT.

THE COLD CORE ALOFT PASSES MAINLY EAST AND SOUTH OF THE TWIN CITIES
METRO AREA THUS KEEPING MOST OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA CLOUDY AND
COOLER. MODELS KEEPING WINDS EASTERLY AND INDICATE A FAIR AMOUNT OF
BOUNDARY LEVEL MOISTURE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS
SHOULD HAVE A MODIFYING EFFECT ON TEMPERATURES.

.MSP...NONE.
 WH/NORDIN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXTodd37 min
Aug 17, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRenville46 min
Aug 17, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMorrison58 min
Aug 17, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope43 min
Aug 17, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStearns, Todd61 min
Aug 17, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRedwood46 min
Aug 17, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton49 min
Aug 17, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, Watonwan60 min
Aug 17, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXWright44 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.