Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 573
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 3, 2002, 6:45 PM CDT for 14 counties in Iowa; 30 counties in Minnesota; Pierce County, Saint Croix County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 3, 2002, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 4, 2002, 12:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 46 counties
Cerro Gordo County, IA, Clay County, IA, Dickinson County, IA, Emmet County, IA, Hancock County, IA, Humboldt County, IA, Kossuth County, IA, Lyon County, IA, O'Brien County, IA, Osceola County, IA, Palo Alto County, IA, Sioux County, IA, Winnebago County, IA, Worth County, IA, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carver County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Dakota County, MN, Dodge County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Freeborn County, MN, Goodhue County, MN, Hennepin County, MN, Jackson County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, Lyon County, MN, Martin County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Nobles County, MN, Ramsey County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Rice County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Steele County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Washington County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Yellow Medicine County, MN, Pierce County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:46 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
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 6:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Sibley | 41 min |
| Aug 3, 6:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Pierce, Saint Croix | 37 min |
| Aug 3, 7:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Le Sueur, Rice, Scott | 36 min |
| Aug 3, 7:26 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MPX | Carver, Dakota, Scott | 4 hr |
| Aug 3, 7:49 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MPX | Sibley | 3 hr |
| Aug 3, 7:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Blue Earth, Brown, Nicollet, Sibley, Watonwan | 52 min |
| Aug 3, 8:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Le Sueur, Scott | 42 min |
| Aug 3, 8:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Blue Earth, Rice, Steele, Waseca | 55 min |
| Aug 3, 9:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Dakota | 40 min |
| Aug 3, 9:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Dodge | 57 min |
| Aug 3, 9:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Goodhue | 39 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 163 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 032346 SEL3 SPC WW 032345 IAZ000-MNZ000-WIZ000-040500- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 573 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 645 PM CDT SAT AUG 3 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN IOWA SOUTHERN MINNESOTA EXTREME WESTERN WISCONSIN EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 645 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF SPENCER IOWA TO 40 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MINNEAPOLIS 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 570. WATCH NUMBER 570 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 645 PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 571...WW 572... DISCUSSION...BOW ECHO IS EVOLVING QUICKLY NEAR THE MSP AREA...WITH ADDITIONAL LINE OF STRONG/SEVERE STORMS EXPECTED TO EVOLVE INTO A BOWING SYSTEM NOW MOVING INTO SWRN MN/NWRN IA. SHEAR PROFILES WILL REMAIN STRONG NEAR THE IA/MN BORDER...WITH WELL DEFINED E-W ORIENTED SURFACE BOUNDARY EXTENDING ACROSS SRN MN...SUGGESTING ISOLATED TORNADOES REMAIN POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE...WIDESPREAD STRONG/ DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27045. ...EVANS 450,0921 424,0931 424,0963 450,0954
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anoka, Benton, Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver and 42 more | 6 hr |
| Aug 3, 5:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted and 2 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2002Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2002Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2002Every 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.