Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2010

Tornado Watch 613

August 13, 20107 counties in Minnesota; Buffalo County, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Aug 13, 2010, 4:24 PM CDT for 7 counties in Minnesota; Buffalo County, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 13, 2010, 4:24 PM CDT (21:24 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 2010, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Dodge County, MN, Fillmore County, MN, Houston County, MN, Mower County, MN, Olmsted County, MN, Wabasha County, MN, Winona County, MN, Buffalo County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:28 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
10%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
40%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 13, 4:44 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXDodge, Mower, Olmsted4 hr
Aug 13, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WarningARXDodge, Olmsted30 min
Aug 13, 5:43 PM CDTTornado WarningARXOlmsted32 min
Aug 13, 5:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXOlmsted, Wabasha, Winona6 hr
Aug 13, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXOlmsted44 min
Aug 13, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFillmore, Houston, Winona16 min
Aug 13, 7:05 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXFillmore, Houston, Olmsted, Winona6 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 154 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2010-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 112 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2010-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 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
112 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-488 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
959 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

972 
WWUS20 KWNS 132124
SEL3
SPC WW 132124
MNZ000-WIZ000-140300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 613
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
425 PM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010

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

       SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA
       A SMALL PART OF SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 425 PM UNTIL
1000 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 35 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF
ROCHESTER MINNESOTA TO 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ROCHESTER MINNESOTA.
 FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 609...WW 610...WW
611...WW 612...

DISCUSSION...A 2-3 HOUR WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY EXISTS FOR SUPERCELLS
WITH A RISK OF TORNADOES ACROSS SE MN...IN THE NARROW ZONE OF
ENHANCED LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND MODERATE SURFACE-BASED INSTABILITY NW
OF THE LARGER COLD POOL ACROSS ERN IA/NW IL/SRN WI.

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 24020.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 8:29 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin and 12 more61 min
Aug 12, 10:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Big Stone, Chippewa, Douglas, Grant, Kandiyohi and 18 more67 min
Aug 13, 12:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Carver, Dakota, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore and 17 more57 min
Aug 13, 1:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnoka, Blue Earth, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Dodge and 27 more4 hr
Aug 13, 2:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and 2 more62 min
Aug 13, 4:20 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHouston115 min
Aug 13, 5:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chisago and 31 more8 hr
Aug 13, 9:16 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 25 more119 min
Aug 13, 10:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 23 more84 min
Aug 13, 12:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cottonwood, Dakota, Dodge and 30 more56 min
Aug 13, 2:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAitkin, Anoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carlton and 38 more7 hr
Aug 13, 1:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGreen, Rock, Walworth66 min
Aug 13, 2:28 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCDane, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Kenosha, Lafayette and 5 more5 hr
Aug 13, 5:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGreen, Rock, Walworth63 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2010Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2010Every tornado watch in 2010

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.