Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Watches in 2006

Tornado Watch 714

August 12, 200621 counties in Minnesota; 22 counties in North Dakota; 8 counties in South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 12, 2006, 2:56 PM CDT for 21 counties in Minnesota; 22 counties in North Dakota; 8 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 2006, 2:56 PM CDT (19:56 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2006, 7:44 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 51 counties

Becker County, MN, Big Stone County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Clay County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Grant County, MN, Kittson County, MN, Lac qui Parle County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Pope County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Stevens County, MN, Swift County, MN, Traverse County, MN, Wilkin County, MN, Barnes County, ND, Benson County, ND, Cass County, ND, Cavalier County, ND, Dickey County, ND, Eddy County, ND, Foster County, ND, Grand Forks County, ND, Griggs County, ND, LaMoure County, ND, Nelson County, ND, Pembina County, ND, Ramsey County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Steele County, ND, Stutsman County, ND, Traill County, ND, Walsh County, ND, Wells County, ND, Clark County, SD, Codington County, SD, Day County, SD, Deuel County, SD, Grant County, SD, Hamlin County, SD, Marshall County, SD, Roberts County, SD

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:57 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
70%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 2:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWalsh63 min
Aug 12, 3:06 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCavalier, Pembina54 min
Aug 12, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRamsey47 min
Aug 12, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall24 min
Aug 12, 3:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRichland, Sargent64 min
Aug 12, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFRamsey30 min
Aug 12, 3:57 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFNelson17 min
Aug 12, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFWalsh60 min
Aug 12, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNelson41 min
Aug 12, 4:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrand Forks34 min
Aug 12, 5:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall57 min
Aug 12, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRClark, Spink25 min
Aug 12, 6:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningABRRoberts6 hr
Aug 12, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle, Stevens, Swift50 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 271 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 2006-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 713 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 2006-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 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
713 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-374 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 3:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Polk62 min
Aug 12, 2:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake and 1 more83 min
Aug 12, 6:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching and 2 more84 min
Aug 11, 7:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Billings, Bottineau, Burke, Burleigh, Divide and 18 more92 min
Aug 11, 10:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Benson, Cass, Cavalier, Dickey, Eddy and 17 more97 min
Aug 11, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBurleigh, Dickey, Emmons, Foster, Kidder, LaMoure and 10 more5 hr
Aug 12, 1:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAurora, Beadle, Brule, Buffalo, Edmunds, Faulk and 13 more93 min
Aug 12, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAurora, Beadle, Brown, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix and 23 more7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 2006Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2006Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2006Every tornado watch in 2006

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.