Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 680

July 10, 20089 counties in Minnesota; 8 counties in North Dakota; 16 counties in South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 10, 2008, 7:36 PM CDT for 9 counties in Minnesota; 8 counties in North Dakota; 16 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 10, 2008, 7:36 PM CDT (00:36 UTC)
Expired
Jul 11, 2008, 1:24 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 33 counties

Becker County, MN, Big Stone County, MN, Clay County, MN, Grant County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Traverse County, MN, Wilkin County, MN, Barnes County, ND, Cass County, ND, Griggs County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND, Steele County, ND, Traill County, ND, Brown County, SD, Campbell County, SD, Clark County, SD, Codington County, SD, Day County, SD, Deuel County, SD, Edmunds County, SD, Faulk County, SD, Grant County, SD, Hamlin County, SD, Marshall County, SD, McPherson County, SD, Potter County, SD, Roberts County, SD, Spink County, SD, Walworth County, SD

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:39 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
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 10, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown, Edmunds, McPherson28 min
Jul 10, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell, Edmunds, McPherson, Walworth46 min
Jul 10, 8:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell, Corson51 min
Jul 10, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRansom, Richland, Sargent62 min
Jul 10, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell, McPherson45 min
Jul 10, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell, Edmunds, McPherson, Walworth45 min
Jul 10, 9:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABREdmunds, McPherson38 min
Jul 10, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBig Stone, Traverse61 min
Jul 10, 10:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown, Edmunds, McPherson, Spink33 min
Jul 10, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFOtter Tail, Wilkin67 min
Jul 10, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFGrant, Otter Tail57 min
Jul 10, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBig Stone35 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 00:00Z on 2008-07-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2257 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 00:00Z on 2008-07-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
2257 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-127 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2064 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 110037
SEL0  
SPC WW 110037
MNZ000-NDZ000-SDZ000-110700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 680
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
740 PM CDT THU JUL 10 2008

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

       PARTS OF WESTERN MINNESOTA
       PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN NORTH DAKOTA
       PARTS OF NORTHERN SOUTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 740 PM
UNTIL 200 AM 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 100 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
FARGO NORTH DAKOTA TO 45 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF ABERDEEN SOUTH
DAKOTA.  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 677...WW 678...WW 679...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS OVER CENTRAL ND WILL CONTINUE DEVELOPING
E/SE INTO A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS.  WITH DEEP LAYER SHEAR
REMAINING FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS...THE THREAT FOR TORNADOES AND
VERY LARGE HAIL/WIND DAMAGE WILL CONTINUE AFTER DARK.

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
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 28030.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 10, 9:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Big Stone, Clay, Grant, Mahnomen, Norman and 3 more91 min
Jul 10, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBeltrami, Clearwater, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington and 3 more8 hr
Jul 10, 11:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa and 30 more5 hr
Jul 11, 2:15 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa and 32 more60 min
Jul 11, 4:11 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKittson, Lake of the Woods, Roseau94 min
Jul 11, 6:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeltrami, Clearwater, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington and 3 more24 min
Jul 11, 7:42 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKoochiching, Lake of the Woods63 min
Jul 11, 12:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Beltrami, Clay, Clearwater, Douglas, Grant and 15 more83 min
Jul 11, 2:26 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Benton, Big Stone, Cass and 39 more6 hr
Jul 11, 3:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Cottonwood, Jackson, Lyon, Martin, Murray and 5 more92 min
Jul 11, 4:02 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Beltrami, Benton, Cass, Chippewa, Clearwater and 18 more88 min
Jul 11, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Le Sueur and 9 more7 hr
Jul 11, 5:50 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Benton, Big Stone, Cass and 39 more85 min
Jul 11, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnoka, Carlton, Carver, Chisago, Cook, Dakota and 9 more7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2008Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2008Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 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.