Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 33, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 31, 2002Cavalier County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 31, 2002, 8:42 PM CDT for Cavalier County, North Dakota. It was in force for 33 min. 2 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 31, 2002, 8:42 PM CDT (01:42 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 2002, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cavalier County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:43 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 31, 8:43 PM CDTHail 0.88Osnabrock, ND
Aug 31, 9:25 PM CDTHail 1Olga, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 31, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 290 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 00:00Z on 2002-09-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1564 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2002-09-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2744 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

270 
WFUS53 KFGF 010142
TORFAR
NDC019-010215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
842 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  EAST CENTRAL CAVALIER COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

* UNTIL 915 PM CDT.

* AT 838 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION OVER OSNABROCK...OR ABOUT
  13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LANGDON...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  OLGA AT 850 PM.

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 SUNDAY
MORNING FOR NORTHWEST MINNESOTA AND NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA. A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT SUNDAY
MORNING FOR NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4872 9826 4857 9812 4859 9795 4894 9796


04

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier47 min
Aug 31, 7:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFCavalier4 hr
Aug 31, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina45 min
Aug 31, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier34 min
Aug 31, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier43 min
Aug 31, 8:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina52 min
Aug 31, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson, Towner45 min
Aug 31, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier49 min
Aug 31, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson, Ramsey, Towner62 min
Aug 31, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina43 min
Aug 31, 10:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier43 min
Aug 31, 10:07 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFCavalier, Pembina3 hr
Aug 31, 10:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Griggs55 min
Aug 31, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina45 min
Aug 31, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier45 min
Aug 31, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass53 min
Aug 31, 11:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes30 min
Aug 31, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina42 min
Sep 1, 12:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSargent47 min
Sep 1, 1:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland41 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.