Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 598

July 10, 200426 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 10, 2004, 3:55 PM CDT for 26 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 10, 2004, 3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 10, 2004, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 26 counties

Barnes County, ND, Burleigh County, ND, Cass County, ND, Dickey County, ND, Eddy County, ND, Emmons County, ND, Foster County, ND, Grant County, ND, Griggs County, ND, Kidder County, ND, LaMoure County, ND, Logan County, ND, McIntosh County, ND, McLean County, ND, Mercer County, ND, Morton County, ND, Oliver County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Sioux County, ND, Steele County, ND, Stutsman County, ND, Traill County, ND, Wells County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 10, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISMercer, Oliver66 min
Jul 10, 5:00 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBISOliver3 hr
Jul 10, 5:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh62 min
Jul 10, 6:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISKidder54 min
Jul 10, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WarningBISKidder25 min
Jul 10, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman54 min
Jul 10, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Cass65 min
Jul 10, 8:29 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass61 min
Jul 10, 8:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBISStutsman115 min
Jul 10, 9:04 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFCass12 hr

Discussions around it

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

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 54 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2004-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 804 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2004-07-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 98 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
804 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-244 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1142 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 102056
SEL8  
SPC WW 102055
NDZ000-110300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 598
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
355 PM CDT SAT JUL 10 2004

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

       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 355 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF ROSEGLEN NORTH
DAKOTA TO 5 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF FARGO NORTH DAKOTA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 596...WW 597...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG A SURFACE BOUNDARY
NORTHWEST OF BIS AND OTHER STORMS ARE EXPECTED SOUTH AND EAST OF THE
BOUNDARY INTO THE EVENING HOURS. STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND
MODERATE TO STRONG INSTABILITY WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS. 
THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL...THOUGH THE STRONG VEERING
PROFILES AND MOIST ENVIRONMENT ARE SUGGESTIVE OF A FEW TORNADOES
ALSO.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26030.


...IMY

474,1022 474,0964 455,0964 455,1022

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 7:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Grant, Hettinger and 9 more2 hr
Jul 10, 8:56 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRichland, Traill94 min
Jul 10, 2:19 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Burleigh, Eddy, Emmons, Foster, Griggs and 8 more2 hr
Jul 10, 3:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGrand Forks, Nelson, Walsh113 min
Jul 10, 3:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBillings, Bowman, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Slope, Stark2 hr
Jul 10, 3:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBillings, Bowman, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Slope, Stark2 hr
Jul 10, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Hettinger and 3 more7 hr
Jul 10, 6:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Emmons, Grant, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan and 2 more114 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 2004Every tornado 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.