Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 18, 2002Steele County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 2002, 1:06 PM CDT for Steele County, Minnesota. It was in force for 24 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
Jul 18, 2002, 1:06 PM CDT (18:06 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 2002, 1:30 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Steele County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:06 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 12:00Z on 2002-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1002 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2002-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1002 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-110 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1157 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 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.

054 
WFUS53 KMPX 181806
TORMSP
MNC147-181830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
105 PM CDT THU JUL 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN STEELE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 130 PM CDT

* AT 105 PM CDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED A         
  TORNADO  NEAR  MEDFORD...OR ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OF OWATONNA...     
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  MEDFORD.
  OWATONNA.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

LAT...LON 4417 9331 4402 9339 4398 9309 4417 9309

&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 12:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRice43 min
Jul 18, 12:46 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMPXGoodhue3 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.