Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 16, 2002Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 2002, 11:55 PM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2002, 11:55 PM CDT (04:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2002, 12:45 AM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Otter Tail County, MN

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 16, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 227 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 2002-08-17Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2002-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 244 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
1774 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

108 
WFUS53 KFGF 170455
TORFAR
MNC111-170545-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1155 PM CDT FRI AUG 16 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  EASTERN OTTER TAIL COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

* UNTIL 1245 AM CDT.

* AT 1154 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 4 MILES WEST OF PARKERS
  PRAIRIE...OR ABOUT 33 MILES EAST OF FERGUS FALLS...MOVEMENT WAS TO
  THE EAST AT 50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  WRIGHTSTOWN AT 1205 AM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT SATURDAY
MORNING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4660 9566 4615 9563 4614 9518 4659 9522


55

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNorman29 min
Aug 16, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk50 min
Aug 16, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMahnomen, Norman46 min
Aug 16, 9:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail44 min
Aug 16, 10:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay46 min
Aug 16, 10:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWilkin41 min
Aug 16, 10:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker41 min
Aug 16, 10:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail52 min
Aug 16, 11:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFHubbard50 min
Aug 16, 11:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.