Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Bismarck, ND
NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 2002, 6:17 PM CDT for McHenry County, Ward County, North Dakota. It was in force for 58 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 31, 2002, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 31, 2002, 7:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Bismarck, ND
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
Counties McHenry County, ND, Ward County, ND
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 6:25 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Drake, ND |
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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 3:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 307 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -525 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1640 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 97 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 161 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
510 WUUS53 KBIS 312317 SVRBIS NDC049-101-010015- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 615 PM CDT WED JUL 31 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN MCHENRY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA SOUTHEASTERN WARD COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA * UNTIL 715 PM CDT * AT 616 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 9 MILES NORTHEAST OF VELVA TO 26 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SAWYER...OR FROM 22 MILES EAST OF MINOT TO 28 MILES SOUTH OF MINOT...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. * SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... VOLTAIRE AT 635 PM CDT KARLSRUHE AT 640 PM CDT BERGEN AT 645 PM CDT BALFOUR AT 705 PM CDT DRAKE AT 715 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTH DAKOTA. LAT...LON 4818 10099 4786 10151 4787 10026 4817 10025 WA
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 Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 31, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 3:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 17 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND 300 PM CDT WED JUL 31 2002 A COLD UPPER TROUGH WILL SWING THROUGH THE STATE OVERNIGHT...WITH ITS ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT SETTING OFF SOME THUNDERSTORMS. ON THURSDAY I EXPECT A BROKEN CU DECK TO FORM IN THE NORTH AND A SCATTERED ONE IN THE SOUTH AS THE COLD SURFACE HIGH BEARS DOWN ON THE STATE. WE SHOULD SEE LOWS IN THE 40S THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH A WARM UP BEGINNING ON FRIDAY. IN THE LONGER TERM...A QUASI STATIONARY LONG WAVE TROUGH ON THE WEST COAST WILL SET THE STAGE FOR AN ACTIVE PERIOD OF WEATHER STARTING SATURDAY...AND CONTINUING THROUGH FRIDAY OF NEXT WEEK. THIS EXPECTED PATTERN WILL FEATURE A PERSISTENT EAST/WEST BOUNDARY OVER SOUTH DAKOTA. THIS HISTORICALLY HAS BEEN A GOOD MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTH DAKOTA. .BIS...NONE. RSL
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 31, 4:57 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
457 PM CDT WED JUL 31 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0430 PM 4 W BANTRY ND 1 INCH HAIL
07/31/02 MCHENRY REPORTED BY STORM
SPOTTER. NICKEL TO
QUARTER SIZE HAIL.Local storm report, Jul 31, 5:30 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
530 PM CDT WED JUL 31 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0510 PM 11 N MAX ND 60 MPH TSTM GUST
07/31/02 WARD REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
OPERATOR.
0524 PM RUGBY ND .75 INCH HAIL
07/31/02 PIERCE REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.
DIME SIZE HAIL.The office that day
Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 10:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Adams | 58 min |
| Jul 30, 11:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Golden Valley, McKenzie | 64 min |
| Jul 31, 12:08 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Sioux | 67 min |
| Jul 31, 2:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Morton, Stark | 47 min |
| Jul 31, 3:29 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Morton | 61 min |
| Jul 31, 4:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McHenry | 58 min |
| Jul 31, 5:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Pierce | 67 min |
| Jul 31, 5:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Ward | 50 min |
| Jul 31, 5:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | McLean | 65 min |
| Jul 31, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Pierce | 45 min |
| Jul 31, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BIS | Oliver | 47 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.