Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 11, 2004Becker County, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 11, 2004, 7:14 PM CDT for Becker County, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 46 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 11, 2004, 7:14 PM CDT (00:14 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2004, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Becker County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:16 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.

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
May 11, 7:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 262 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: 2506 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1786 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 8.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

948 
WFUS53 KFGF 120014
TORFGF
MNC005-111-120100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  SOUTHWESTERN BECKER COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA
  NORTHWESTERN OTTER TAIL COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT.

* AT 708 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 13 MILES WEST OF ERHARD...
  OR ABOUT 19 MILES NORTHEAST OF WAHPETON...MOVEMENT WAS TO THE
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  ERHARD AT 730 PM...
  PELICAN RAPIDS AT 740 PM...
  LAKE LIDA AT 755 PM AND
  CORMORANT AT 800 PM.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF MULTIPLE FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH STRONG 
ROTATION. IN ADDITION...VERY LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

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 4662 9625 4640 9625 4668 9566 4687 9607
          4662 9617

$$

DK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 7:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall, Pennington	51 min
May 11, 7:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Clay, Wilkin	44 min
May 11, 7:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Red Lake	28 min
May 11, 7:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Becker, Otter Tail	46 min
May 11, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall, Pennington	60 min
May 11, 8:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Red Lake	58 min
May 11, 8:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	31 min
May 11, 8:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Clay, Wilkin	44 min
May 11, 8:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FGF	Becker, Otter Tail	45 min
May 11, 8:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Marshall, Pennington, Red Lake	62 min
May 11, 9:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	50 min
May 11, 9:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Becker, Hubbard	46 min
May 11, 9:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Norman	52 min
May 11, 10:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Polk	51 min
May 11, 11:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FGF	Norman	40 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.