Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 184

May 1, 200112 counties in Minnesota; 11 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 1, 2001, 5:00 PM CDT for 12 counties in Minnesota; 11 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 2001, 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 2001, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 23 counties

Aitkin County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Chisago County, MN, Cook County, MN, Isanti County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Lake County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Pine County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Ashland County, WI, Barron County, WI, Bayfield County, WI, Burnett County, WI, Douglas County, WI, Iron County, WI, Polk County, WI, Price County, WI, Rusk County, WI, Sawyer County, WI, Washburn County, WI

The radar

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:59 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.

Warnings issued inside it

9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 5:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DLH	Itasca	40 min
May 1, 5:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DLH	Pine	62 min
May 1, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Chisago	41 min
May 1, 6:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DLH	Burnett	55 min
May 1, 6:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Polk	38 min
May 1, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DLH	Saint Louis	51 min
May 1, 6:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Barron	51 min
May 1, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DLH	Lake	48 min
May 1, 7:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Rusk	45 min

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 210 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 771 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 73 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 
WWUS9 KMKC 012143
SEL4  

SEL4  
MKC WW 012139
MNZ000-WIZ000-LSZ000-020300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 184
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
439 PM CDT TUE MAY 1 2001

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHERN MINNESOTA                          
   NORTHWEST WISCONSIN                          
   LAKE SUPERIOR                      

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 500 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 100 MILES SOUTH OF DULUTH MINNESOTA TO 25 MILES
NORTH NORTHEAST OF ELY MINNESOTA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 182...WW 183...

DISCUSSION...STORMS INCREASING RAPIDLY ALONG AND AHEAD OF STRONG
COLD FRONT MOVING EWD ACROSS MN.  AIRMASS IN WARM SECTOR HAS
DESTABILIZED SUFFICIENTLY THAT COUPLED WITH VERY FAVORABLE SHEAR
PROFILES...SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT OF SUPER CELLS.  ISOLATED TORNADOES
ARE LIKELY ALONG WITH THE EXPECTED DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL
POTENTIAL AS STORMS MOVE RAPIDLY EWD WITH APPROACH OF STRONG UPPER
TROUGH AND MID LEVEL WIND MAX.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

;452,0940 481,0933 481,0894 452,0901;

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Anoka, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota and 24 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2001 Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2001 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.