Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Bismarck, ND

July 3, 2002Adams County, North Dakota

NWS Bismarck, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 2002, 11:59 PM MDT for Adams County, North Dakota. It was in force for 61 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 3, 2002, 11:59 PM MDT (05:59 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 2002, 1:00 AM MDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Bismarck, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Adams County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:59 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 4, 12:50 AM MDT	Hail 0.75	Hettinger, ND	Rainfall from the storm totaled 2.25 inches.

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 nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 169 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: 3495 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 131 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 
WUUS53 KBIS 040559
SVRBIS
NDC001-040700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
1158 PM MDT WED JUL 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN ADAMS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 100 AM MDT

* AT 1158 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER BUCYRUS...OR ABOUT 32 MILES EAST OF
  BOWMAN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL REMAIN OVER...
  RURAL NORTHERN ADAMS COUNTY THROUGH 100 AM MDT

IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER
AWAY FROM CREEK BEDS AND OTHER FLOOD-PRONE AREAS. REMEMBER...A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN BISMARCK.

LAT...LON 4627 10300 4594 10300 4595 10283 4607 10250
          4621 10232 4620 10251 4628 10250

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 3, 2:40 PM MDT, 9 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:40 PM MDT, 9 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
340 PM CDT WED JUL 3 2002

CURRENT TREND CONTINES TO SLOW THE MOVEMENT OF TEH SURFACE TROUGH IN
MONTANA AND SLOWLY BRING THE COLD FRONT INTO WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
FRIDAY NIGHT AND THROUGH THE REGION BY SATURDAY MORNING. MAIN
CONCERN FOR LIMITING THE EXTENT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE THE MID
LEVEL WARM AIR OVER SOUTHERN ND. FOR TONIGHT...ACCEPT THE ETA
SOLUTION IN KEEPING THE MAIN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE
NORTHWEST LATE TONIGHT AND WILL MENTION DAMAGING WINDS. ON
THURSDAY...EXPECT DYING MCS TYPE SYSTEM OVER THE NORTH IN THE
MORNING THEN MORE THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY EVENING. SLOWLY MOVING COLD
FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUS OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT
AND FRIDAY...WITH BETTER CHANCE NORTH. BY SATURDAY...HIGHS PRESSURE
WILL CLEAR THE REGION OF THE CHANCE FOR RAIN. DRY WEATHER WILL
CONTINUE SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AS 500 MB RIDGE ALOFT BUILDS
ACROSS THE WESTERN US. ALTHOUGH THE STATE WILL BE IN NORTHWEST FLOW
WITH SOME LIMITED SHORTWAVE ENERGY DURING THIS PERIOD...WILL KEEP
THE FORECAST DRY.

.BIS...NONE.
WAA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 11:09 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BIS	Bowman	66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 2002 Every 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.