Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 37, NWS Grand Forks, ND
NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 2002, 6:58 PM CDT for Clay County, Minnesota. It was in force for 47 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 18, 2002, 6:58 PM CDT (23:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 18, 2002, 7:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Grand Forks, ND
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clay County, MN
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:05 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 7:08 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Downer, 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
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 266 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 613 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -190 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 786 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
141 WFUS53 KFGF 182358 TORFAR MNC027-190045- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS 658 PM CDT WED SEP 18 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... EASTERN CLAY COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. * UNTIL 745 PM CDT. * AT 654 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 2 MILES EAST OF DOWNER... OR ABOUT 19 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FARGO...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... MUSKODA AT 705 PM... ROLLAG AT 710 PM... HAWLEY AT 715 PM AND DALE AT 730 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 4678 9661 4665 9643 4669 9621 4711 9621 30 NNNN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 18, 5:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Clay | 47 min |
| Sep 18, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Wilkin | 38 min |
| Sep 18, 5:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Norman | 52 min |
| Sep 18, 6:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Clay | 44 min |
| Sep 18, 6:19 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FGF | Kittson | 6 hr |
| Sep 18, 6:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FGF | Clay | 47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.