Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Watches in 2007

Tornado Watch 245

May 6, 200728 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 6, 2007, 1:07 PM CDT for 28 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2007, 1:07 PM CDT (18:07 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2007, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 28 counties

Barnes County, ND, Benson County, ND, Burleigh County, ND, Cavalier County, ND, Eddy County, ND, Emmons County, ND, Foster County, ND, Grant County, ND, Griggs County, ND, Kidder County, ND, LaMoure County, ND, Logan County, ND, McHenry County, ND, McIntosh County, ND, McLean County, ND, Mercer County, ND, Morton County, ND, Nelson County, ND, Oliver County, ND, Pierce County, ND, Ramsey County, ND, Rolette County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Sioux County, ND, Stutsman County, ND, Towner County, ND, Ward County, ND, Wells County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:08 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 1:15 PM CDTTornado WarningBISGrant30 min
May 6, 1:46 PM CDTTornado WarningBISGrant, Morton29 min
May 6, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISPierce21 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 2007-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 659 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 2007-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 288 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
659 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
292 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
6.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 061807
SEL5  
SPC WW 061807
NDZ000-070000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 245
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
110 PM CDT SUN MAY 6 2007

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

       LARGE PART OF NORTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 110 PM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 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 70 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES SOUTH OF BISMARCK
NORTH DAKOTA TO 60 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF DEVILS LAKE 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 243...WW 244...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING JUST AHEAD OF THE
SURFACE/UPPER LOW THAT IS TRACKING NEWD ACROSS CENTRAL ND. STRONG
DEEP LAYER SHEAR AHEAD OF LOW COUPLED WITH MLCAPES TO 1000 J/KG
SUPPORT BOTH SUPERCELLS AND SHORT LINE SEGMENTS.  TORNADOES WILL BE
MOST LIKELY WITH ANY SUPERCELL THAT FORMS AS THE ACTIVITY DEVELOPS
NEWD THRU THE AFTERNOON.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22035.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Burleigh, Cass, Dickey, Emmons, Foster and 10 more2 hr
May 6, 12:07 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Burleigh, Dunn, Grant, Hettinger, McHenry and 8 more113 min
May 6, 6:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenson, Burleigh, Eddy, Foster, Kidder, Logan and 10 more56 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 2007Every tornado watch in 2007

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.