Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 3, 2002Chisago County, Minnesota; Polk County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 2002, 5:23 PM CDT for Chisago County, Minnesota; Polk County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 37 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
Aug 3, 2002, 5:23 PM CDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 2002, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Chisago County, MN, Polk County, WI

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:23 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 3, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 2002-08-03Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2002-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 159 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
1222 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 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.

862 
WFUS53 KMPX 032223
TORMSP
MNC025-WIC095-032300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
521 PM CDT SAT AUG 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CHISAGO COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  POLK COUNTY IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 521 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTH OF LINDSTROM...OR ABOUT 19 MILES WEST OF
  BALSAM LAKE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  CENTER CITY.
  TAYLORS FALLS.
  ST CROIX FALLS.
  BALSAM LAKE.

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

LAT...LON 4562 9300 4535 9298 4532 9237 4557 9236

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka50 min
Aug 3, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChisago, Washington51 min
Aug 3, 4:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXYellow Medicine39 min
Aug 3, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod44 min
Aug 3, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle51 min
Aug 3, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSherburne, Wright47 min
Aug 3, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXYellow Medicine60 min
Aug 3, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSwift58 min
Aug 3, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod50 min
Aug 3, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver51 min
Aug 3, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka36 min
Aug 3, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXCarver, Scott, Sibley45 min
Aug 3, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod48 min
Aug 3, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Ramsey, Washington43 min
Aug 3, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRedwood58 min
Aug 3, 6:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMPXYellow Medicine3 hr
Aug 3, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSibley41 min
Aug 3, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk, Saint Croix53 min
Aug 3, 5:57 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXPolk33 min
Aug 3, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPierce, Saint Croix37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2002Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 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.