Alert archive / Minnesota / Flash Flood Warnings in 2008

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Twin Cities, MN

July 19, 2008Freeborn County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this flash flood warning at Jul 19, 2008, 6:03 PM CDT for Freeborn County, Minnesota. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 19, 2008, 6:03 PM CDT (23:03 UTC)
Expired: Jul 19, 2008, 8:20 PM CDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

County Freeborn County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:06 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 135 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 95 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 
WGUS53 KMPX 192305
FFWMPX
MNC047-200300-
/O.NEW.KMPX.FF.W.0003.080719T2303Z-080720T0300Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
603 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 2008

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  FREEBORN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT

* AT 603 PM CDT...RADAR DETECTED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY
  HEAVY RAIN ACROSS MUCH OF THE WARNED AREA...AROUND AND WEST OF
  ALBERT LEA. MORE STORMS EXTENDED WEST INTO FARIBAULT COUNTY AND
  IOWA. THEREFORE MORE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO FREEBORN COUNTY
  AND THE ALBERT LEA AREA...AS WELL AS AREAS EAST AND SOUTH OF
  ALBERT LEA.  A WEATHER SPOTTER JUST WEST OF ALBERT LEA MEASURED
  NEARLY 2 INCHES OF RAIN DURING THE PAST HALF HOUR.  EXPECT
  ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS TO MOVE OVER THE WARNED AREA...
  RESULTING IN EXCESSIVE RAINFALL.

* SOME LOCATIONS THAT MAY BE AFFECTED INCLUDE...ALBERT LEA...ALDEN...
  CLARKS GROVE...CONGER...EMMONS...GLENVILLE AND HOLLANDALE.

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE
INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. JUST ONE FOOT OF RUSHING
WATER CAN SWEEP MOST VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED
ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN.

LAT...LON 4373 9363 4385 9303 4373 9302 4372 9303
      4351 9303 4349 9306 4349 9364

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS73 KMPX 200120
FFSMPX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
817 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 2008

MNC047-200127-
/O.CAN.KMPX.FF.W.0003.000000T0000Z-080720T0300Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
FREEBORN MN-
817 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 2008

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR FREEBORN COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

NO REPORTS OF ONGOING FLOODING WERE RECEIVED IN THE FREEBORN COUNTY 
AS OF 815 PM. RADAR ALSO INDICATED THAT RAINFALL WAS ENDING ACROSS 
THE WARNED AREA AND THE FLOOD THREAT WAS DIMINISHING. 
THEREFORE...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR FREEBORN COUNTY HAS BEEN 
CANCELLED.

WATER LEVELS ON AREA STREAMS AND CREEKS MAY REMAIN HIGH...INCLUDING 
THE SHELL ROCK RIVER...BANCROFT CREEK...AND TURTLE CREEK. SOME LOW 
WATER CROSSINGS ALSO MAY STILL HAVE WATER OVER THE ROADWAY. NEVER 
DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS AND BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT.

LAT...LON 4373 9363 4385 9303 4373 9302 4372 9303
      4351 9303 4349 9306 4349 9364

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 19, 1:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Sherburne	46 min
Jul 19, 2:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Sherburne	43 min
Jul 19, 2:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Isanti, Mille Lacs	44 min
Jul 19, 2:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX	Anoka, Isanti	51 min
Jul 19, 2:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Anoka, Isanti, Sherburne	40 min
Jul 19, 2:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Chisago, Isanti	20 min
Jul 19, 3:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MPX	Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Washington	38 min
Jul 19, 4:11 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MPX	Martin	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Minnesota, 2008 Every flash flood warning in 2008

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.