Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 455

June 22, 200220 counties in Minnesota; Burnett County, Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 22, 2002, 5:15 PM CDT for 20 counties in Minnesota; Burnett County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 22, 2002, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired: Jun 22, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 21 counties

Aitkin County, MN, Becker County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Cass County, MN, Clay County, MN, Crow Wing County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Grant County, MN, Hubbard County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Pine County, MN, Todd County, MN, Traverse County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Wilkin County, MN, Burnett County, WI

The radar

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 200 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:17 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.

Warnings issued inside it

4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 22, 6:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DLH	Carlton, Saint Louis	57 min
Jun 22, 8:29 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FGF	Mahnomen	6 hr
Jun 22, 9:20 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FGF	Norman	6 hr
Jun 22, 9:56 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FGF	Becker, Beltrami, Clay, Hubbard	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 229 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: 962 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 222158
SEL5  
SPC WW 222155
MNZ000-230300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 455
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
455 PM CDT SAT JUN 22 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHERN MINNESOTA                          

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 515 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA MINNESOTA TO
60 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF HIBBING MINNESOTA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 453...WW 454...

DISCUSSION...VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS WITH MUCAPES TO 5000 J/KG TO S
OF E/W BOUNDARY ACROSS NRN MN.  WITH FAVORABLE VEERING SHEAR
PROFILES...SUPERCELLS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY VICINITY OF
THE BOUNDARY.  PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING
WINDS...BUT AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY ALSO SUPPORTS TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.


...HALES

473,0963 472,0922 454,0922 454,0963

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 22, 6:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Price and 2 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2002 Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.