Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 360
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 25, 2008, 2:45 PM CDT for 20 counties in Minnesota; Burnett County, Douglas County, Washburn County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 25, 2008, 2:45 PM CDT (19:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 25, 2008, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 23 counties
Aitkin County, MN, Beltrami County, MN, Benton County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Cass County, MN, Cook County, MN, Crow Wing County, MN, Hubbard County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Koochiching County, MN, Lake County, MN, Lake of the Woods County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Pine County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Todd County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Burnett County, WI, Douglas County, WI, Washburn County, WI
The radar
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:48 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
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 3:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard | 38 min |
| May 25, 3:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Meeker, Stearns, Wright | 56 min |
| May 25, 3:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Becker, Hubbard | 56 min |
| May 25, 4:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Benton, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright | 59 min |
| May 25, 4:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Beltrami | 45 min |
| May 25, 4:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Beltrami, Hubbard | 40 min |
| May 25, 4:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Koochiching | 66 min |
| May 25, 4:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Lake of the Woods | 15 min |
| May 25, 4:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Koochiching | 13 min |
| May 25, 4:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Itasca | 19 min |
| May 25, 5:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Koochiching | 55 min |
| May 25, 5:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Cass | 50 min |
| May 25, 5:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DLH | Cass | 23 min |
| May 25, 6:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF | Beltrami | 28 min |
| May 25, 6:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Koochiching | 67 min |
| May 25, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DLH | Cass, Itasca | 41 min |
| May 25, 6:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Itasca, Saint Louis | 31 min |
| May 25, 6:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Koochiching | 24 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
International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 120 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 783 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 251942
SEL0
SPC WW 251942
MNZ000-WIZ000-LSZ000-260200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 360
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
245 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
MUCH OF MINNESOTA
PARTS OF NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN
LAKE SUPERIOR
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 245 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 95 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
INTERNATIONAL FALLS MINNESOTA TO 65 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BRAINERD
MINNESOTA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).
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 357...WW 358...WW 359...
DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE ALONG/AHEAD OF COLD FRONT
ENTERING WRN MN AS AIRMASS IS DESTABILIZING RAPIDLY ACROSS WARM
SECTOR. WITH STRONG SHEAR AND STEEP LAPSE RATES...SUPERCELLS WILL
BE LIKELY WITH ASSOCIATED LARGE HAIL AND TORNADO THREAT.
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 24035.
...HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 8:07 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Becker, Clay, Grant, Kittson, Mahnomen, Marshall and 7 more | 3 hr |
| May 24, 9:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Big Stone, Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi and 18 more | 59 min |
| May 24, 9:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Becker, Clay, Clearwater, Douglas, Grant, Kittson and 9 more | 2 hr |
| May 25, 9:56 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Carlton, Cook, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs and 4 more | 94 min |
| May 25, 12:43 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chisago and 33 more | 92 min |
| May 25, 2:04 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anoka, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chisago, Dakota and 29 more | 6 hr |
| May 25, 2:25 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aitkin, Beltrami, Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard and 10 more | 35 min |
| May 25, 6:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Carver, Cass and 20 more | 59 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2008Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2008Every tornado watch 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.