Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 188, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 8, 2002Kittson County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 2002, 10:51 PM CDT for Kittson County, Minnesota. It was in force for 39 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: Aug 8, 2002, 10:51 PM CDT (03:51 UTC)
Expired: Aug 8, 2002, 11:30 PM CDT
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Kittson County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:54 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
Aug 8, 10:55 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Donaldson, MN	Trees were blown down.

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, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 358 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: 863 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1927 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

754 
WUUS53 KFGF 090351
SVRFAR
MNC069-090430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1051 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  KITTSON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT.

* AT 1049 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KENNEDY...OR ABOUT 23
  MILES NORTHEAST OF GRAFTON...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  KENNEDY AT 1055 PM...
  HALLOCK AT 1105 PM...
  HALMA AT 1115 PM AND
  LAKE BRONSON AT 1120 PM.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM FRIDAY
MORNING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4873 9709 4856 9707 4861 9643 4894 9672


08

NNNN

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 Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 8, 10:05 PM CDT, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 10:05 PM CDT, 46 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1005 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

FORECAST CHALLENGE FOR TODAY IS PRECIPITATION. LATEST SATELLITE
IMAGERY SHOWS VARIETY OF CLOUD DECKS ALONG WITH SOME PATCHY FOG
SCATTERED ACROSS THE AREA. KMVX HAS ONE THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER MOVING
THROUGH WC MN...WITH SHOWERS MOVING INTO E ND. CURRENT MSAS SURFACE
ANALYSIS SHOWS SURFACE LOW CENTERED IN SW MB...WITH FRONT EXTENDING
THROUGH ND ALONG A MOT-BIS-MBG LINE. WHEN COMPARING MSAS DATA TO
MODEL INITIALIZATIONS...ALL MODELS SIMILAR IN MOVING SURFACE FRONT
INTO AREA...WITH UPPER LEVEL FLOW PARALLEL TO FRONT AS SHORTWAVE
MOVES THROUGH UPPER LEVEL FLOW. CONSIDERING THAT HAVE PLENTY OF
MOISTURE AVAILABLE IN LOW LEVELS (DEWPOINTS IN 65 TO 75 RANGE) AND
ALSO PRECIPITABLE WATERS ON MODEL SOUNDINGS FROM 1.75 TO 2.0
INCHES...HEAVY RAINS REMAIN POSSIBLE...SO NO CHANGES NEEDED TO FLOOD
WATCH FOR AREA AT THIS TIME. ONLY MINOR CHANGE NEEDED REST OF
FORECAST.

.FGF...FLOOD WATCH FOR DVL AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT...FOR RRV THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...AND FOR REST OF MN TONIGHT AND FRIDAY.

NG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 8, 7:22 PM CDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
722 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0305 PM    4 NW SOUTHAM              ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   RAMSEY

0330 PM    3 W BARTLET               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   RAMSEY

0415 PM    8 W VALLEY CITY           ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   BARNES

0450 PM    FINLEY                    ND   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/02   STEELE                         BUILDING UNDER
                                          CONSTRUCTION COLAPSED.
                                          ESTIMATED 75 MPH WINDS.

0450 PM    FINLEY                    ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0515 PM    COLGATE                   ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0530 PM    7 E HOPE                  ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0542 PM    1 S EMERADO               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0542 PM    1 S EMERADO               ND   60 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0550 PM    7 E GRAND FORKS AFB       ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0555 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    @ FGF WFO.

0555 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   59 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    @ FGF WFO.

0600 PM    6 W GRAND FORKS           ND   62 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    @ KGFK AIRPORT.

0605 PM    EAST GRAND FORKS          MN   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/02   POLK                           TREE DAMAGE, 4-5 DIA.

0625 PM    6 S BLABON                ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0625 PM    6 S BLABON                ND   60 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   STEELE

0645 PM    6 NE HOPE                 ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

Local storm report, Aug 8, 8:06 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
806 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0305 PM    4 NW SOUTHAM              ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   RAMSEY

0330 PM    3 W BARTLET               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   RAMSEY

0415 PM    8 W VALLEY CITY           ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   BARNES

0450 PM    FINLEY                    ND   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/02   STEELE                         BUILDING UNDER
                                          CONSTRUCTION COLAPSED
                                          ESTIMATED 75 MPH WINDS

0450 PM    FINLEY                    ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0515 PM    COLGATE                   ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0530 PM    7 E HOPE                  ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0542 PM    1 S EMERADO               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0542 PM    1 S EMERADO               ND   60 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0550 PM    7 E GRAND FORKS AFB       ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS

0555 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    FGF WFO

0555 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   59 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    FGF WFO

0600 PM    6 W GRAND FORKS           ND   62 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    KGFK AIRPORT

0605 PM    EAST GRAND FORKS          MN   WIND DAMAGE
08/08/02   POLK                           TREE DAMAGE...4-5 INCH DIA

0625 PM    6 S BLABON                ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

0625 PM    6 S BLABON                ND   60 MPH WIND GUST
08/08/02   STEELE

0645 PM    6 NW HOPE                 ND   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   STEELE

Local storm report, Aug 8, 9:35 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
935 PM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0855 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .88 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    NWS EMPLOYEE

0900 PM    GRAND FORKS               ND   .75 INCH HAIL
08/08/02   GRAND FORKS                    KGFK POLICE DEPT

0931 PM    ROSEAU                    MN   67 MPH TSTORM WIND
08/08/02   ROSEAU                         AWOS REPORT

DP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 8, 7:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Roseau	41 min
Aug 8, 7:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	44 min
Aug 8, 8:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Polk	48 min
Aug 8, 8:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	49 min
Aug 8, 9:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall	46 min
Aug 8, 10:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Beltrami, Lake of the Woods	47 min
Aug 9, 12:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Roseau	52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.