Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 34, NWS Grand Forks, ND

September 2, 2002Wadena County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Sep 2, 2002, 8:34 AM CDT for Wadena County, Minnesota. It was in force for 41 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: Sep 2, 2002, 8:34 AM CDT (13:34 UTC)
Expired: Sep 2, 2002, 9:15 AM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wadena County, MN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Sep 2, 8:40 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Verndale, MN
Sep 2, 8:45 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Aldrich, MN
Sep 2, 8:55 AM CDT	Hail 1	Staples, 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 12:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 201 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: 2159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -235 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 827 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 168 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

926 
WFUS53 KFGF 021334
TORFAR
MNC159-021415-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
834 AM CDT MON SEP 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHERN WADENA COUNTY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

* UNTIL 915 AM CDT.

* AT 831 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION OVER VERNDALE...OR ABOUT
  49 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DETROIT LAKES...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT
  20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  ALDRICH AT 840 AM AND
  STAPLES AIRPORT AT 900 AM.

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 4647 9514 4629 9514 4625 9450 4647 9480


30
NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 2, 5:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Clay	50 min
Sep 2, 7:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Otter Tail	39 min
Sep 2, 8:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Wadena	41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.