Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 23, 2002Pembina County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 23, 2002, 6:20 PM CDT for Pembina County, North Dakota. It was in force for 40 min. 4 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
Aug 23, 2002, 6:20 PM CDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 23, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pembina County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:22 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
Aug 23, 6:28 PM CDTHail 1Mountain, ND
Aug 23, 6:30 PM CDTTornado F0Mountain, NDA brief tornado touchdown was reported.
Aug 23, 6:35 PM CDTHail 2Mountain, ND
Aug 23, 6:50 PM CDTHail 1.75Crystal, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 305 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2002-08-23Temperature 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2002-08-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
855 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
306 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.

245 
WFUS53 KFGF 232320
TORFAR
NDC067-240000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
620 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHWESTERN PEMBINA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT.

* AT 616 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  MOUNTAIN...OR ABOUT 22 MILES EAST OF LANGDON...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
  SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  MOUNTAIN AT 625 PM...
  GARDAR AT 635 PM AND
  CRYSTAL AT 650 PM.

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

LAT...LON 4883 9789 4857 9790 4855 9773 4856 9737


30
NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 23, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTowner38 min
Aug 23, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier38 min
Aug 23, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTowner45 min
Aug 23, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier48 min
Aug 23, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina46 min
Aug 23, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTowner47 min
Aug 23, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Ramsey43 min
Aug 23, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWalsh47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.