Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 3, 2002Carver County, Scott County, Sibley County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 2002, 6:15 PM CDT for Carver County, Scott County, Sibley County, Minnesota. It was in force for 45 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 3, 2002, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired: Aug 3, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Carver County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sibley County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:18 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
Aug 3, 6:37 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61 M	Chaska, MN
Aug 3, 6:54 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Belle Plaine, MN	Brief touchdown in open field.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 3, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 16 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: 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.

420 
WFUS53 KMPX 032315
TORMSP
MNC019-139-143-040000-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CARVER COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  SCOTT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
  SIBLEY COUNTY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 615 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF COLOGNE...OR ABOUT 26 MILES WEST OF
  BURNSVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  BELLE PLAINE.
  CARVER.
  CHASKA.
  COLOGNE.
  JORDAN.
  SHAKOPEE.

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

LAT...LON 4481 9392 4461 9393 4462 9335 4482 9353

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 3, 3:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka	50 min
Aug 3, 3:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Chisago, Washington	51 min
Aug 3, 4:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Yellow Medicine	39 min
Aug 3, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	McLeod	44 min
Aug 3, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Chippewa, Lac qui Parle	51 min
Aug 3, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Sherburne, Wright	47 min
Aug 3, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Yellow Medicine	60 min
Aug 3, 5:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Chisago	37 min
Aug 3, 5:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Swift	58 min
Aug 3, 5:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	McLeod	50 min
Aug 3, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Carver	51 min
Aug 3, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka	36 min
Aug 3, 6:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	McLeod	48 min
Aug 3, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Dakota, Ramsey, Washington	43 min
Aug 3, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Redwood	58 min
Aug 3, 6:36 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MPX	Yellow Medicine	3 hr
Aug 3, 6:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Sibley	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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.