Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2005

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 20, 2005Cass County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2005, 8:42 PM CDT for Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 55 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, 8:42 PM CDT (01:42 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2005, 9:37 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Cass County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 228 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 2005-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 395 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 2005-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -51 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
395 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2239 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFGF 210142
TORFGF
NDC017-210245-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0015.050521T0142Z-050521T0245Z/

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL CASS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 837 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALICE...OR
  19 MILES EAST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  7 MILES SOUTH OF BUFFALO AT 855 PM
  ALICE AT 900 PM
  EMBDEN AT 930 PM
  CHAFFEE AND 7 MILES SOUTH OF WHEATLAND AT 945 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 4692 9767 4674 9767 4669 9720 4697 9721

$$

JDS/TG
2 follow-up statements
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 210201
SVSFGF

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

NDC017-210245-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0015.000000T0000Z-050521T0245Z/
CASS ND-
900 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 945 PM CDT FOR CENTRAL CASS
COUNTY...

AT 854 PM CDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD. THE 
TORNADO WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTH OF ALICE...OR 21 MILES EAST OF 
VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  EMBDEN BY 920 PM CDT...
  9 MILES SOUTH OF WHEATLAND BY 930 PM CDT...
  CHAFFEE BY 935 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 4691 9763 4677 9766 4669 9716 4697 9717

$$
JDS/TG
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 210237
SVSFGF

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

NDC017-210247-
/O.CAN.KFGF.TO.W.0015.000000T0000Z-050521T0245Z/
CASS ND-
937 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR CENTRAL CASS COUNTY IS CANCELLED...

AT 933 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM LOCATED 4 MILES NORTH OF CHAFFEE...OR 25 MILES WEST OF
FARGO...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORM HAS WEAKENED AND WAS NO LONGER CONSIDERED SEVERE. SO
THE WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. 

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

LAT...LON 4691 9763 4677 9766 4669 9716 4697 9717

$$
JDS/TG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRichland30 min
May 20, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Cass54 min
May 20, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass67 min
May 20, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes57 min
May 20, 8:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFBarnes, Cass12 hr
May 20, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes40 min
May 21, 5:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFEddy, Nelson39 min
May 21, 5:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGriggs38 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.