Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 147, NWS Bismarck, ND

August 16, 2002Dunn County, Stark County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 2002, 3:55 PM MDT for Dunn County, Stark County, North Dakota. It was in force for 65 min. 3 reports 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 16, 2002, 3:55 PM MDT (21:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2002, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Bismarck, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Dunn County, ND, Stark County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:56 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 16, 4:30 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 57 MBelfield, ND
Aug 16, 4:50 PM MDTHail 0.75Halliday, ND
Aug 16, 4:50 PM MDTHail 1Halliday, NDReported by a NWS cooperative observer.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 16, 2:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2002-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2002-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -25 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1678 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Aug 16, 1:00 PM MDT, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 1:00 PM MDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
200 PM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002

STRONG MID LEVEL TROUGH WILL SWING RAPIDLY THROUGH OUR FORECAST
AREA. AT THE SURFACE A LOW WILL MOVE TO NEAR BISMARCK AT 00Z AND
THEN RAPIDLY TO GFK BY 06Z. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL FOLLOW THE LOW
WITH ENVIRONMENTAL WINDS TO 45 MPH. ALSO...STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY SEVERE...WILL RIDE AHEAD OF THE FRONT LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS MOVING SO RAPIDLY WINDS WILL LIKELY BE
SUBSIDING IN THE WEST ALREADY SATURDAY. I WILL CONTINUE THE CURRENT
WINDS ADVISORIES AS THE NEW MODEL RUNS SUPPORT THEM.

A WEAK SHORT WAVE MAY BRING A FEW AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSHOWERS TO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE SUNDAY.

.BIS...WIND ADVISORY WEST......TONIGHT...............ISN..DIK..HEI
                      CENTRAL..TONIGHT AND SATURDAY..MOT..BIS..JMS

RSL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Bismarck, ND issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 3:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBillings, Golden Valley54 min
Aug 16, 4:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISAdams, Bowman, Hettinger, Slope56 min
Aug 16, 4:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMercer, Morton, Oliver63 min
Aug 16, 5:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISAdams, Grant, Hettinger63 min
Aug 16, 5:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh, Morton, Sioux52 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.