Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 143, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 19, 2003Benson County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 19, 2003, 2:55 AM CDT for Benson County, North Dakota. It was in force for 65 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 19, 2003, 2:55 AM CDT (07:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 2003, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Benson County, ND

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2003-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 691 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2003-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
691 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-208 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2107 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

496 
WUUS53 KFGF 190755
SVRFGF
NDC005-190900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
255 AM CDT SAT JUL 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHERN BENSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

* UNTIL 400 AM CDT.

* AT 249 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MADDOCK...OR ABOUT 31
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEVILS LAKE...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 55
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  OBERON AT 305 AM...
  FORT TOTTEN AT 315 AM AND
  TOKIO AT 320 AM.

REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

LAT...LON 4809 9988 4788 9983 4789 9868 4800 9881

$$

BRAMER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 18, 8:40 PM CDT, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 8:40 PM CDT, 6 hours 15 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
840 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 2003

.CURRENT OBSERVATIONAL OVERVIEW...
01Z MSAS ANALYSIS DEPICTED HIGH PRESSURE FROM MINNESOTA TO THE WESTERN
GREAT LAKES WHILE LOW PRESSURE AND ASSOCIATED TROUGH AXIS WAS SITUATED
FROM SOUTHEAST MONTANA TO SOUTHERN MANITOBA. STRONGEST INSTABILITY
AND MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE (RESULTANT LOW LEVEL FORCING) WAS
POOLING IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO BOUNDARY FROM EASTERN MONTANA INTO
THE WESTERN DAKOTAS. LATEST WATER VAPOR CONFIRMED STRONG UPPER LEVEL
JET PUNCHING SOUTHEAST INTO WESTERN GREAT LAKES WHILE WEAK SHORTWAVE
ENERGY OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA WAS AIDING CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT ACROSS
THE WESTERN DAKOTAS.

.FORECAST DETAILS...
LATEST OBSERVATIONAL TRENDS INDICATE INSTABILITY/MOISTURE INCREASING
FROM VALLEY WEST. PROXIMITY OF BOUNDARY OVERNIGHT SUGGESTS BEST LOW
LEVEL FORCING/INSTABILITY POOLING SHOULD BE FOCUSED FROM DEVILS LAKE
BASIN TO POINTS NORTHEAST. APPEARS ANY CONVECTION THAT FIRES WILL
HAVE TOUGH TIME SELF-SUSTAINING THROUGH OVERNIGHT IN LIGHT OF NIL
NOCTURNAL LOW LEVEL JET INFLUX OR FAVORABLE AID OF LARGE SCALE
ASCENT FROM UPPER LEVEL JET. PRESENT INDICATIONS POINT TO SOME
FINE TUNING/SHAVING OF POPS OVERNIGHT. WILL WAIT FOR NEW 00Z
MODEL GUIDANCE TO ARRIVE AND HOPEFULLY SHED ADDITIONAL LIGHT
ON SITUATION.

.FGF...NONE.

BERG
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 18, 6:23 AM CDT, 20 hours 32 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-181415-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
623 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 2003

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST
CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
ALONG AND AHEAD OF A WEAK COLD FRONT. AS THIS FRONT MOVES EAST THIS
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO
THE DEVILS LAKE BASIN MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA
DURING THE EVENING HOURS. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS IS EXPECTED
AFTER 2 PM AND SHOULD END BY MIDNIGHT. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS
ALSO POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT EAST DURING THE DAY
SATURDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE
FRONT DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THE FAVORED LOCATION FOR
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM VALLEY CITY
NORTH DAKOTA TO ROSEAU MINNESOTA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

VOELKER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 5:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSteele49 min
Jul 19, 5:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier51 min
Jul 19, 6:01 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCavalier44 min
Jul 19, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Ramsey, Walsh44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Dakota, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

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.