Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 235

May 8, 200512 counties in Minnesota; 18 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2005, 3:50 PM CDT for 12 counties in Minnesota; 18 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 8, 2005, 3:50 PM CDT (20:50 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2005, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 30 counties

Becker County, MN, Beltrami County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Kittson County, MN, Lake of the Woods County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Norman County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Barnes County, ND, Benson County, ND, Cass County, ND, Cavalier County, ND, Eddy County, ND, Foster County, ND, Grand Forks County, ND, Griggs County, ND, Kidder County, ND, Nelson County, ND, Pembina County, ND, Ramsey County, ND, Steele County, ND, Stutsman County, ND, Towner County, ND, Traill County, ND, Walsh County, ND, Wells County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:52 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks48 min
May 8, 5:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson47 min
May 8, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks45 min
May 8, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFEddy50 min
May 8, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman63 min
May 8, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk48 min
May 8, 6:23 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFGFGrand Forks13 hr
May 8, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall, Pennington, Red Lake, Roseau53 min
May 8, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBenson, Eddy47 min
May 8, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk61 min
May 8, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISStutsman60 min
May 8, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGriggs, Nelson, Steele47 min
May 8, 7:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall, Pennington, Red Lake65 min
May 8, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPolk63 min
May 8, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBarnes58 min
May 8, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISFoster23 min
May 8, 8:34 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFGriggs41 min
May 8, 8:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISFoster34 min
May 8, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFPennington57 min

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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 254 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 2005-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 24 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 2005-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 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
24 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-137 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1200 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 082049
SEL5  
SPC WW 082049
MNZ000-NDZ000-090200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 235
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
350 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 2005

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

       NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA
       NORTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 350 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 115 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
THIEF RIVER FALLS MINNESOTA TO 30 MILES WEST OF FARGO NORTH
DAKOTA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED
WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

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 231...WW 232...WW 233...WW
234...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND
INTENSITY ACROSS NERN ND AND NWRN MN THIS EVENING AHEAD OF SHORTWAVE
TROUGH EJECTING TOWARDS THE REGION.  MODERATE INSTABILITY AND 35-40
KT OF DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL LIKELY SUPPORT SUPERCELLS. THOUGH
PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE FROM LARGE HAIL...ISOLATED TORNADOES COULD
OCCUR...ESPECIALLY AS STORMS INTERACT WITH SURFACE FRONT EXTENDING
NE-SW ACROSS NERN ND.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 20020.


...EVANS

485,0941 465,0950 465,0995 485,0991

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 7:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Stone, Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray and 7 more116 min
May 7, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBig Stone, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Pipestone, Rock, Stevens and 1 more6 hr
May 7, 11:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Stone, Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Douglas, Grant and 23 more83 min
May 8, 1:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Stone, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln and 8 more3 hr
May 8, 1:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBig Stone, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Grant, Jackson, Lac qui Parle and 14 more7 hr
May 8, 5:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Beltrami, Benton, Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown and 51 more63 min
May 8, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBenton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Douglas and 19 more8 hr
May 7, 9:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Benson, Burleigh, Cass, Eddy, Foster and 13 more53 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 2005Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2005Every tornado watch 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.