Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 15, NWS La Crosse, WI

July 27, 2002Mower County, Minnesota; Mitchell County, Iowa

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 27, 2002, 7:19 PM CDT for Mower County, Minnesota; Mitchell County, Iowa. It was in force for 41 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 27, 2002, 7:19 PM CDT (00:19 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 2002, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Mitchell County, IA, Mower County, MN

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:20 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 27, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 159 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 2002-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1293 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 00:00Z on 2002-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 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
1293 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1102 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

340 
WFUS53 KARX 280019
TORLSE
IAC131-MNC099-280100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
718 PM CDT SAT JUL 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MITCHELL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  MOWER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 718 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES EAST OF LYLE...OR ABOUT 12 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF AUSTIN...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE DEVELOPING TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  NEAR ADAMS AT 725 PM CDT...

TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

LAT...LON 4361 9295 4343 9295 4341 9258 4363 9260

RIECK

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXHoward53 min
Jul 27, 8:28 PM CDTTornado WarningARXWinneshiek47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2002Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

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.