Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 48, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 2, 2004Otter Tail County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 2004, 3:04 AM CDT for Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It was in force for 41 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
Aug 2, 2004, 3:04 AM CDT (08:04 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 2004, 3:45 AM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Otter Tail County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 157 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:06 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 2, 3:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 250 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2004-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3501 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2004-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
3501 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1092 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
305 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.8
Supercell composite
15.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 020804
TORFGF
MNC111-020845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
304 AM CDT MON AUG 2 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  OTTER TAIL COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 345 AM CDT.

* AT 301 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 8 MILES WEST OF ERHARD...
  OR ABOUT 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF FERGUS FALLS...MOVING TO THE
  SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...

  PELICAN RAPIDS AT 310 AM...
  LAKE LIDA AT 315 AM...
  ERHARD AT 320 AM AND
  ELIZABETH AT 325 AM.

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 4661 9626 4615 9623 4614 9571 4660 9570

$$
GV

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 2:53 AM CDTTornado WarningFGFWilkin37 min
Aug 2, 3:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWilkin30 min
Aug 2, 3:46 AM CDTTornado WarningFGFOtter Tail44 min
Aug 2, 4:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail30 min
Aug 2, 6:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail46 min
Aug 2, 6:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrant24 min

Nearby

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