Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 2, 2003Benson County, Ramsey County, Towner County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 2003, 10:46 AM CDT for Benson County, Ramsey County, Towner County, North Dakota. It was in force for 44 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 2, 2003, 10:46 AM CDT (15:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 2003, 11:30 AM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Benson County, ND, Ramsey County, ND, Towner 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 2, 7:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 190 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 12:00Z on 2003-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2034 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2003-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2034 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-295 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1447 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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.

875 
WUUS53 KFGF 021546
SVRFGF
NDC005-071-095-021630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1044 AM CDT WED JUL 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  BENSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
  WESTERN RAMSEY COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA AND   
  TOWNER COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

* UNTIL 1130 AM CDT.

* AT 1038 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF BAKER...OR ABOUT 39 MILES
  WEST OF DEVILS LAKE...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...

  LEEDS AT 1100 AM...
  FORT TOTTEN AT 1110 AM...
  CANDO AT 1110 AM CDT...AND
  DEVILS LAKE AT 1125 AM CDT

* LARGE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

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

LAT...LON 4830 9984 4794 9981 4795 9872 4883 9915

$$

RIDDLE/06

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 2, 9:30 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 9:30 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
930 AM CDT WED JUL 2 2003

...FORECAST CHALLENGE FOR UPDATE CONCERNS CONVECTIVE THREAT.

STRONG CONVECTION WHICH DEVELOPED OVER WESTERN DAKOTAS CONTINUES TO
PROPAGATE EAST/NORTHEAST WITH NORTHERN CLUSTER BECOMING TO TRACK
MORE EAST AS IT CRESTS RIDGE. CONVECTION RIDING ALONG LOW LEVEL
BOUNDARY WITH 70 DEWPOINTS POOLING ALONG BOUNDARY. AM ALSO SEEING
DEVELOPMENT CLOUD TOPS CONTINUE TO COOL FROM IR IMAGERY. MAIN
ADJUSTMENTS TO UPDATE WILL BE TIMING WITH CONVECTION BASED ON
CURRENT TRENDS. TEMPERATURES SEEM IN REASON AS TEMPERATURES ALREADY
APPROACHING 80. CONVECTION MAY HOLD SOME TEMPERATURES DOWN HOWEVER
ANY BREAKS WILL ALLOW AREA TO QUICKLY HEAT OUT.

.FGF...NONE.

VOELKER
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 2, 6:35 AM CDT, 4 hours 11 minutes before
MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-021415-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
635 AM CDT WED JUL 2 2003

...THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK
   ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE
REGION TODAY. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING
WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAINS. DUE TO THE EXTREME
INSTABILITY IN PLACE OVER THE REGION ISOLATED TORNADOES AND
SIGNIFICANT STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE (LARGE BOW ECHO) CANNOT
BE RULED OUT. EXPECT RAPID SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TO
OCCUR ALONG A DEVILS LAKE TO VALLEY CITY LINE BY MID TO LATE
AFTERNOON AND THEN WORK EAST ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF EASTERN
NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA THIS
EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST
MINNESOTA THURSDAY MORNING. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM CHANCES LOOM ON
TO CLOSE OUT THE JULY FOURTH WEEKEND ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

BERG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 10:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFTowner44 min
Jul 2, 10:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson39 min
Jul 2, 10:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFEddy37 min
Jul 2, 11:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson, Ramsey, Walsh44 min
Jul 2, 11:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson, Eddy26 min
Jul 2, 11:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier46 min
Jul 2, 12:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks, Nelson, Walsh44 min
Jul 2, 12:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Pembina44 min
Jul 2, 12:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGriggs40 min
Jul 2, 1:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWalsh45 min
Jul 2, 1:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPembina30 min
Jul 2, 1:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFSteele33 min
Jul 2, 1:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks43 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.