Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 511

June 23, 200438 counties in Minnesota; Sargent County, North Dakota; 9 counties in South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 23, 2004, 12:45 PM CDT for 38 counties in Minnesota; Sargent County, North Dakota; 9 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 23, 2004, 12:45 PM CDT (17:45 UTC)
Expired
Jun 23, 2004, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 48 counties

Big Stone County, MN, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carver County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Freeborn County, MN, Grant County, MN, Jackson County, MN, Kandiyohi County, MN, Lac qui Parle County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, Lincoln County, MN, Lyon County, MN, Martin County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Nobles County, MN, Pipestone County, MN, Pope County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Rock County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Steele County, MN, Stevens County, MN, Swift County, MN, Todd County, MN, Traverse County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Wright County, MN, Yellow Medicine County, MN, Sargent County, ND, Brookings County, SD, Codington County, SD, Day County, SD, Deuel County, SD, Grant County, SD, Hamlin County, SD, Marshall County, SD, Moody County, SD, Roberts County, SD

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:49 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.

Warnings issued inside it

3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 1:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRTraverse32 min
Jun 23, 1:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall21 min
Jun 23, 2:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi, Meeker, Stearns43 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 140 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2004-06-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2004-06-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 231746
SEL1  
SPC WW 231745
MNZ000-SDZ000-240000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 511
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1245 PM CDT WED JUN 23 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHWEST AND PART OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA
       NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1245 PM UNTIL
700 PM CDT.

HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA
MINNESOTA TO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FAIRMONT MINNESOTA.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 510...

DISCUSSION...AIR MASS WILL CONTINUE TO UNDERGO MARGINAL TO MODERATE
DESTABILIZATION OVER WW...AHEAD OF STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH NOW
SHIFTING ACROSS ND.  GIVEN STRENGTH OF LARGE SCALE ASCENT AND LARGE
VALUES OF SHEAR...ACTIVITY WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME QUITE
ORGANIZED AND FORM INTO SMALL LINES AND SUPERCELLS.  LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS EXPECTED TO BE PRIMARY SEVERE THREATS AS STORMS SHIFT
QUICKLY ESEWD INTO THE EARLY EVENING.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 30035.


...EVANS

460,0943 432,0925 432,0962 460,0981

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 10:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Anoka, Becker, Beltrami, Benton, Carlton and 34 more118 min
Jun 23, 10:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBecker, Beltrami, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Hubbard and 5 more5 hr
Jun 23, 12:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Cottonwood and 29 more88 min
Jun 23, 1:24 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Cass, Crow Wing, Grant, Hubbard, Otter Tail and 2 more66 min
Jun 23, 3:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 23 more90 min
Jun 23, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCFillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha and 1 more5 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2004Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Dakota, 2004Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Dakota, 2004Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.