Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Grand Forks, ND

July 12, 2004Clay County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 2004, 10:59 PM CDT for Clay County, Minnesota. It was in force for 46 min. 1 report 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, 10:59 PM CDT (03:59 UTC)
Expired: Jul 12, 2004, 11:45 PM CDT
In force: 46 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), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:59 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
Jul 12, 11:08 PM CDT	TORNADO	Rollag, 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, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 263 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 130359
TORFGF
MNC027-130445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
1059 PM CDT MON JUL 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHEASTERN CLAY COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 1145 PM CDT.

* AT 1054 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  ROLLAG...OR ABOUT 23 MILES WEST OF DETROIT LAKES...MOVING TO THE
  SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  ROLLAG AT 1105 PM.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES AND TENNIS BALL SIZE 
HAIL IN HAWLEY AT 1056 PM CDT.

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 4667 9625 4674 9643 4678 9643 4684 9635
          4689 9633 4685 9618 4662 9618

$$
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, 10:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Clay	58 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 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.