Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 11, 2004Clay County, Wilkin County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 11, 2004, 6:45 PM CDT for Clay County, Wilkin County, Minnesota. It was in force for 45 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 11, 2004, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2004, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Clay County, MN, Wilkin County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:45 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 11, 7:15 PM CDT	HAIL 0.75	7 Ne Barnesville, MN
May 11, 7:25 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	Barnesville, MN

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 11, 3:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 240 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: 48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -312 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 355 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 454 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

834 
WFUS53 KFGF 112345
TORFGF
MNC027-167-120030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
645 PM CDT TUE MAY 11 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  SOUTH CENTRAL CLAY COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
  NORTHERN WILKIN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT.

* AT 637 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 9 MILES WEST OF
  LAWNDALE...OR ABOUT 18 MILES NORTH OF WAHPETON...MOVEMENT WAS TO
  THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  LAWNDALE AT 655 PM...
  BARNESVILLE AT 700 PM AND
  DOWNER AT 710 PM.

MULTIPLE FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH STRONG ROTATION HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY 
SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

LAT...LON 4654 9670 4641 9651 4653 9631 4675 9628
          4684 9643

$$

DK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 5:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Wilkin	47 min
May 11, 6:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Clay, Wilkin	41 min
May 11, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall, Pennington	31 min
May 11, 6:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.