Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2005

Tornado Warning 79, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 17, 2005Barnes County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 2005, 4:55 PM CDT for Barnes County, North Dakota. It was in force for 65 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
Aug 17, 2005, 4:55 PM CDT (21:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2005, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
65 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), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:56 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
Aug 17, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 238 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 12:00Z on 2005-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 438 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2005-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
438 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-205 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
980 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 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 
WFUS53 KFGF 172155
TORFGF
NDC003-172300-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0079.050817T2155Z-050817T2300Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
455 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN BARNES COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 452 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 4 MILES EAST OF JAMESTOWN...OR 29
  MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  URBANA AT 515 PM
  ECKELSON AT 530 PM
  SANBORN AT 540 PM
  BALD HILL DAM AT 600 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 1000 PM CDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH
DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4710 9845 4672 9843 4688 9803 4723 9804
      4723 9844

$$

JCA/JDS
2 follow-up statements
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 172220
SVSFGF

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
518 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2005

NDC003-172300-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0079.000000T0000Z-050817T2300Z/
BARNES ND-
518 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR BARNES COUNTY...

AT 513 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION.  THE TORNADO WAS LOCATED 3 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF URBANA...OR 22 MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY...MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 20 MPH. 

WINDS UP TO 60 MPH ARE ALSO LIKELY ON THE LEADING EDGE OF THE STORM 
FROM SIBLEY TO VALLEY CITY.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  ECKELSON BY 530 PM CDT...
  SANBORN BY 545 PM CDT...
  6 MILES WEST OF VALLEY CITY AND 9 MILES SOUTH OF BALD HILL DAM BY
  600 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 1000 PM CDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH
DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4710 9845 4672 9843 4679 9772 4722 9777
      4723 9844

$$

JCA/JDS
000 
WWUS53 KFGF 172256
SVSFGF

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
556 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2005

NDC003-172306-
/O.EXP.KFGF.TO.W.0079.000000T0000Z-050817T2300Z/
BARNES ND-
556 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2005

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR BARNES COUNTY EXPIRED AT 600 PM CDT...

DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE STORM WAS NO LONGER SEVERE AND THE
WARNING WAS ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 600 PM CDT.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH
DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4710 9845 4672 9843 4679 9772 4722 9777
      4723 9844

$$

JCA/JDS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 12:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCass39 min
Aug 17, 8:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFWalsh14 hr
Aug 17, 10:55 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFGrand Forks12 hr
Aug 17, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes, Griggs60 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.