Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 186, NWS Grand Forks, ND

September 17, 2003Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 17, 2003, 12:57 PM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 33 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: Sep 17, 2003, 12:57 PM CDT (17:57 UTC)
Expired: Sep 17, 2003, 1:30 PM CDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Otter Tail County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:56 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.

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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 258 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: 1710 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 45 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KFGF 171757
SVRFGF
MNC111-171830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1256 PM CDT WED SEP 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  NORTHWESTERN OTTER TAIL COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 130 PM CDT.

* AT 1254 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES WEST OF PELICAN RAPIDS...OR ABOUT 19
  MILES NORTH OF FERGUS FALLS...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  PELICAN RAPIDS AT 100 PM...
  LAKE LIDA AT 115 PM AND
  DUNVILLA AT 120 PM.

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

LAT...LON 4656 9635 4644 9617 4664 9575 4673 9596

$$

BERG/WJB

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 Sep 17, 9:57 AM CDT, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 9:57 AM CDT, 3 hours before

FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
950 AM CDT WED SEP 16 2003

...CORRECTED TYPO ON KDVL LOW...

LOTS OF THINGS TO WATCH FOR THE MORNING UPDATE. MAIN CONCERN REMAINS
THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL THRU THE DAY AS EASTERN FA REMAINS IN A
SLIGHT RISK. RIGHT NOW SEVERE POTENTIAL SEEMS SOMEWHAT QUESTIONABLE
...MAINLY DUE TO THE THICK CLOUD DECKS OVER THE DAKOTAS. DO NOT
REALLY SEE ANY AREAS THAT HAVE A POTENTIAL TO BREAK OUT AND GET ANY
SFC HEATING GOING. ON THE OTHER HAND...GARDEN VARIETY THUNDERSTORMS
ALREADY STARTING UP AGAIN ALONG THE NEARLY STATIONARY FRONTAL
BOUNDARY EXTENDING FROM KPIR TO KHCO. SAID COLD FRONT WILL ONLY INCH
EAST TODAY AS UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM STARTS TO CATCH UP. SO WILL SEE
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO RIDE NORTHEAST ALONG THE FRONT ALL DAY.
WILL BE A WIDE VARIATION AGAIN IN HIGH TEMPS (LIKE TUE). MAY HAVE TO
LOWER TEMPS ACROSS THE KDVL REGION...WHERE THEY ONLY GOT TO 64 TUE
UNDER SIMILAR CONDITIONS. AT THIS POINT...DO NOT PLAN ON GOING ANY
WARMER ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST FA DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER.
LAST CONCERN WILL BE WIND SPEEDS. THINK WE WILL REMAIN CLOSE ENOUGH
TO THE FRONT TODAY TO NOT SEE THE TRUE BRUNT OF THE WIND. MAY HAVE
TO INCREASE SPEEDS ACROSS THE FAR EAST AND FAR WEST INTO AT LEAST
BREEZY...MAYBE EVEN WINDY.

.FGF...NONE.

GODON

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 17, 6:45 AM CDT, 6 hours 12 minutes before

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-171330-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
645 AM CDT WED SEP 17 2003

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWEST
AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND PARTS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH COULD BE SEVERE...ARE EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP IN EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE INTO
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA BY THIS EVENING. THE MAIN
SEVERE WEATHER THREATS ARE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL.

A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WHICH IS DRAPED ACROSS THE AREA WILL PROVIDE THE
FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE
MOVES INTO THE REGION ALONG THE FRONT FROM SOUTH DAKOTA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

NG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 17, 11:54 AM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
1154 AM CDT WED SEP 17 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1140 AM    2 W GALCHUTT              ND   .88 INCH HAIL
09/17/03   RICHLAND                       REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER.

BJB

Local storm report, Sep 17, 12:29 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS, ND
1229 PM CDT WED SEP 17 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1140 AM    2 W GALCHUTT              ND   .88 INCH HAIL
09/17/03   RICHLAND                       REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER.

1212 PM    5 SE WOLVERTON            MN   .75 INCH HAIL
09/17/03   WILKIN                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

BJB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 17, 1:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Lake of the Woods	29 min
Sep 17, 1:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	37 min
Sep 17, 1:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Pennington, Red Lake	38 min
Sep 17, 2:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Beltrami, Marshall	30 min
Sep 17, 11:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Wilkin	37 min
Sep 17, 1:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Becker	39 min
Sep 17, 1:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	37 min
Sep 17, 5:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Lake of the Woods	34 min
Sep 17, 5:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall	28 min
Sep 17, 5:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall	13 min
Sep 17, 6:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Roseau	26 min
Sep 17, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Lake of the Woods	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 2003 Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.