Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 885

August 25, 20039 counties in Minnesota; 5 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 25, 2003, 5:00 PM CDT for 9 counties in Minnesota; 5 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 25, 2003, 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired: Aug 25, 2003, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Beltrami County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Kittson County, MN, Lake of the Woods County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Grand Forks County, ND, Nelson County, ND, Pembina County, ND, Traill County, ND, Walsh County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:57 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 25, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Kittson, Roseau	40 min
Aug 25, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Kittson, Roseau	45 min
Aug 25, 6:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Roseau	39 min
Aug 25, 7:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Beltrami, Roseau	44 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

International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 256 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2330 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 90 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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 252200
SEL5  
SPC WW 252200
MNZ000-NDZ000-260300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 885 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
500 PM CDT MON AUG 25 2003

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

       NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
       NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 500 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS NORTH
DAKOTA TO 50 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF BEMIDJI 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.




DISCUSSION...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING SOUTHWESTWARD
INTO NORTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.  FAVORABLE LOW LEVEL AND DEEP LAYER
VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES COMBINED WITH SUFFICIENT
MOISTURE/INSTABILITY SUGGEST A RISK OF SUPERCELLS PRODUCING LARGE
HAIL AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29030.


...HART

490,0981 485,0943 472,0943 472,0981

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 24, 8:16 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Jackson, Martin and 8 more	119 min
Aug 25, 11:33 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Chisago, Crow Wing and 13 more	117 min
Aug 25, 4:43 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Beltrami, Clearwater, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods and 5 more	62 min
Aug 25, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower	6 hr
Aug 25, 6:21 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Big Stone, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Traverse, Wilkin and 1 more	54 min
Aug 25, 3:53 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Barnes, Benson, Cass, Cavalier, Eddy, Foster and 12 more	2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2003 Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 2003 Every tornado 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.