Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Grand Forks, ND

April 18, 2002Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 2002, 2:43 AM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 47 min. 3 reports 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
Apr 18, 2002, 2:43 AM CDT (07:43 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 2002, 3:30 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Otter Tail County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 198 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:44 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
Apr 18, 3:00 AM CDTHail 0.75Urbank, MN
Apr 18, 3:07 AM CDTHail 0.75Evansville, MN
Apr 18, 3:25 AM CDTHail 0.75Bertha, MN

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2002-04-18Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2002-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2104 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 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 KFGF 180743
SVRFAR
MNC111-180830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
242 AM CDT THU APR 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHEASTERN OTTER TAIL COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

* UNTIL 330 AM CDT.

* AT 236 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF URBANK...OR ABOUT 15
  MILES NORTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.  HAIL UP TO GOLFBALL SIZE IS LIKELY. 

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  URBANK AT 250 AM AND
  PARKERS PRAIRIE AT 305 AM.

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

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 AM THURSDAY
MORNING FOR WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

LAT...LON 4606 9573 4590 9560 4622 9471 4636 9495


06

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 1:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrant38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 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.