Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2005

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 20, 2005Traill County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2005, 4:24 PM CDT for Traill County, North Dakota. It was in force for 51 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, 4:24 PM CDT (21:24 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2005, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Traill County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 8 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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 nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 275 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 202124
TORFGF
NDC097-202215-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0006.050520T2124Z-050520T2215Z/

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TRAILL COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* AT 419 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF PORTLAND...
  OR 31 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  CUMMINGS AND BUXTON AT 445 PM
  6 MILES NORTH OF CALEDONIA AT 500 PM

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

LAT...LON 4765 9746 4728 9743 4728 9687 4764 9691

$$
GV
2 follow-up statements
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 202153
SVSFGF

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

NDC097-202215-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0006.000000T0000Z-050520T2215Z/
TRAILL ND-
452 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 515 PM CDT FOR TRAILL COUNTY...

AT 449 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE 
THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION.  A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 1 MILE 
NORTHEAST OF HATTON AT 435 PM. AT 450 PM CDT THE TORNADO WAS LOCATED 
3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BUXTON...OR 25 MILES SOUTH OF GRAND 
FORKS...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  8 MILES NORTH OF CALEDONIA BY 505 PM CDT...

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

LAT...LON 4765 9746 4728 9743 4728 9687 4764 9691

$$
GV
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 202214
SVSFGF

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

NDC097-202222-
/O.EXP.KFGF.TO.W.0006.000000T0000Z-050520T2215Z/
TRAILL ND-
512 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 2005

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR TRAILL COUNTY EXPIRED AT 515 PM CDT...

AT 512 PM CDT...THE TORNADO IN TRAILL COUNTY HAS MOVED OUT OF THE 
COUNTY. SO THE WARNING WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 515 PM CDT.

LAT...LON 4765 9746 4728 9743 4728 9687 4764 9691

$$
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, 4:35 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, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBarnes50 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.