Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 251, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 26, 2002Benson County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 2002, 12:36 AM CDT for Benson County, North Dakota. 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 26, 2002, 12:36 AM CDT (05:36 UTC)
Expired: Aug 26, 2002, 1:15 AM CDT
In force: 39 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Benson County, ND

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 26, 12:40 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Leeds, 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 nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 182 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: 1311 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 24 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.

644 
WUUS53 KFGF 260536
SVRFAR
NDC005-260615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1236 AM CDT MON AUG 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  BENSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

* UNTIL 115 AM CDT.

* AT 1230 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES NORTH OF BAKER...OR ABOUT 37 MILES WEST
  OF DEVILS LAKE...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  HARLOW AT 1250 AM...
  LEEDS AT 100 AM AND
  BRINSMADE AT 115 AM.

DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND TORNADOES ARE ALL
POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED
BUILDING IMMEDIATELY.

LAT...LON 4829 9976 4812 9978 4808 9922 4832 9930

23

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 25, 7:50 PM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 25, 7:50 PM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
750 PM CDT SUN AUG 25 2002

.CURRENT OBSERVATIONAL OVERVIEW...
00Z MSAS ANALYSIS DEPICTED RATHER BENIGN PRESSURE PATTERN OVER THE
NORTHERN PLAINS. WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE VICINITY OF SOUTHWEST
NORTH DAKOTA AND ASSOCIATED TROUGH AXIS TO NORTHERN IOWA (WEAK
MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE) APPEARS TO BE THE BREEDING GROUNDS FOR
WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTION EARLY THIS EVENING. LATEST WATER VAPOR
IMAGERY INDICATED PARENT 500MB LOW OVER MONTANA SHEARING EAST
TOWARDS WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA. AIRMASS IN PLACE OVER REGION
MODERATELY UNSTABLE PER REVIEW OF SURFACE BASED LIS...HOWEVER LACK
OF STRONG LOW LEVEL FORCING OR UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT LACKING FACTOR
FOR GOOD CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AT THIS TIME.

.FORECAST DETAILS...
WILL KEEP INHERITED LOW CONVECTIVE POP ACROSS WESTERN COUNTIES
OVERNIGHT AS BETTER UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT OUT WEST FINALLY ENTERS
INTO THE PICTURE...HOWEVER I AM BEGINNING TO HAVE MY DOUBTS THAT
CONVECTION MAKES IT AS FAR EAST AS THE RED RIVER VALLEY BY MORNING.
WILL AWAIT NEW MODEL DATA AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR OBSERVATIONAL
TRENDS BEFORE PASSING FINAL VERDICT.

.FGF...NONE

BERG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 26, 1:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Benson, Ramsey	50 min
Aug 26, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Benson	43 min
Aug 26, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Ramsey	44 min
Aug 26, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Benson	29 min
Aug 26, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Towner	45 min
Aug 26, 6:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Ramsey	47 min
Aug 26, 6:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Walsh	42 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.