Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 12, 2004Clay County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 2004, 10:02 PM CDT for Clay County, Minnesota. It was in force for 58 min. 15 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: Jul 12, 2004, 10:02 PM CDT (03:02 UTC)
Expired: Jul 12, 2004, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 58 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Clay County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:04 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
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	5 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	5 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	5 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	5 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	5 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	7 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	7 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	7 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	7 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:15 PM CDT	HAIL 1.75	7 N Moorhead, MN
Jul 12, 10:32 PM CDT	TORNADO	2 N Glyndon, MN
Jul 12, 10:32 PM CDT	TORNADO	2 N Glyndon, MN
Jul 12, 10:32 PM CDT	TORNADO	2 N Glyndon, MN
Jul 12, 10:32 PM CDT	TORNADO	2 N Glyndon, MN
Jul 12, 10:32 PM CDT	TORNADO	2 N Glyndon, 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
Jul 12, 9:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 255 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: 1108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1722 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 60 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 130319
TORFGF
MNC027-130400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1002 PM CDT MON JUL 12 2004

...RESENT OF ORIGINAL WARNING FOR COMMUNICATION PURPOSES...


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  CLAY COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.

* AT 955 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A     
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF      
  NORTH RIVER...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF FARGO...MOVING TO     
  THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  NORTH RIVER AT 1010 PM...
  MOORHEAD AT 1020 PM...
  DILWORTH AT 1025 PM...
  BRIARWOOD AT 1030 PM AND
  GLYNDON AT 1035 PM.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF FUNNEL CLOUDS AND IS ALSO CAPABLE OF 
PRODUCING HAIL UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE.

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 4678 9678 4691 9676 4696 9682 4710 9682
          4698 9665 4681 9632 4671 9649 4666 9662

$$
DK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 12, 8:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Lake of the Woods	56 min
Jul 12, 10:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Clay	41 min
Jul 12, 10:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Becker, Otter Tail	65 min
Jul 12, 10:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Clay	46 min
Jul 13, 12:00 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Otter Tail, Wadena	60 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.