Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2005

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 20, 2005Barnes County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2005, 6:25 PM CDT for Barnes County, North Dakota. It was in force for 50 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 20, 2005, 6:25 PM CDT (23:25 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2005, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Barnes County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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
May 20, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 191 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 2005-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 184 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2005-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
184 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-180 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 202325
TORFGF
NDC003-210015-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0012.050520T2325Z-050521T0015Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
625 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BARNES COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF VALLEY CITY

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 620 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF URBANA...OR
  21 MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ECKELSON AT 645 PM
  SANBORN AT 705 PM
  8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BALD HILL DAM...8 MILES SOUTH OF ROGERS AND 9
  MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY AT 715 PM

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT
SATURDAY MORNING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4717 9843 4669 9841 4669 9785 4721 9790

$$
GV
2 follow-up statements
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 202347
SVSFGF

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
647 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

NDC003-210015-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0012.000000T0000Z-050521T0015Z/
BARNES ND-
647 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR BARNES COUNTY...

AT 644 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION.  THE TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR
ECKELSON...OR 15 MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15
MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  SANBORN BY 655 PM CDT...
  VALLEY CITY AND 7 MILES SOUTH OF BALD HILL DAM BY 715 PM CDT...

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT
SATURDAY MORNING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4717 9843 4669 9841 4669 9785 4721 9790

$$
GV
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 210014
SVSFGF

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
714 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

NDC003-210023-
/O.EXP.KFGF.TO.W.0012.000000T0000Z-050521T0015Z/
BARNES ND-
714 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR BARNES COUNTY EXPIRED AT 715 PM CDT...

AT 711 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM LOCATED 2 MILES NORTHEAST OF SANBORN...OR 9 MILES WEST
OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORM HAS WEAKENED AND WAS NO LONGER CONSIDERED SEVERE. SO
THE WARNING WAS ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 715 PM CDT.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT
SATURDAY MORNING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4717 9843 4669 9841 4669 9785 4721 9790

$$

GV

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 4:09 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFSteele37 min
May 20, 4:24 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFTraill51 min
May 20, 4:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks40 min
May 20, 4:39 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFGrand Forks36 min
May 20, 4:56 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass64 min
May 20, 5:46 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRichland44 min
May 20, 5:55 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass33 min
May 20, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRichland60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 2005Every tornado warning in 2005Tornadoes in 2005

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.