Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 813

July 29, 200315 counties in Minnesota; 8 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 29, 2003, 3:05 PM CDT for 15 counties in Minnesota; 8 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 29, 2003, 3:05 PM CDT (20:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 29, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 23 counties

Becker County, MN, Beltrami County, MN, Clay County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Kittson County, MN, Lake of the Woods County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Wilkin County, MN, Cass County, ND, Grand Forks County, ND, Pembina County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND, Steele County, ND, Traill County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:06 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 29, 4:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau41 min
Jul 29, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson50 min
Jul 29, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Marshall45 min
Jul 29, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau46 min
Jul 29, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClearwater50 min
Jul 29, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFLake of the Woods50 min
Jul 29, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker48 min
Jul 29, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami58 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 279 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2003-07-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2003-07-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-422 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1942 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 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.

772 
WWUS20 KWNS 292002
SEL3  
SPC WW 292005
MNZ000-NDZ000-300200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 813 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
305 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 2003

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA
       EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 305 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.

HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES SOUTH OF FARGO NORTH DAKOTA
TO 60 MILES NORTH OF THIEF RIVER FALLS MINNESOTA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.


OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 811...WW 812...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY DURING
THE NEXT HOUR OR SO AS SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND COLD FRONT MOVE EWD INTO
THE AREA. MODERATE INSTABILITY AND STRENGTHENING MID LEVEL WINDS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND OCCASIONAL WIND DAMAGE.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 27025.


...IMY

455,0980 485,0973 485,0944 455,0952

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 29, 12:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Norman, Polk, Red Lake, Traverse, Wilkin108 min
Jul 29, 3:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Beltrami, Big Stone, Cass, Chippewa, Clay and 22 more2 hr
Jul 29, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAitkin, Benton, Brown, Carlton, Carver, Cass and 40 more5 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Dakota, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.