Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2011

Tornado Warning 54, NWS Grand Forks, ND

August 6, 2011Clay County, Minnesota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at Aug 6, 2011, 2:38 PM CDT for Clay County, Minnesota. It was in force for 37 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 6, 2011, 2:38 PM CDT (19:38 UTC)
Expired
Aug 6, 2011, 3:15 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Storm-based polygon

County Clay County, MN

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:39 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 was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 6, 2:43 PM CDTFUNNEL CLOUDComstock, MN
Aug 6, 2:49 PM CDTFUNNEL CLOUD1 E Rustad, MN

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 237 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 12:00Z on 2011-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 174 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2011-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 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
174 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-116 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
954 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

946 
WFUS53 KFGF 061938
TORFGF
MNC027-062015-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0054.110806T1938Z-110806T2015Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
238 PM CDT SAT AUG 6 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN CLAY COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...

* UNTIL 315 PM CDT

* AT 234 PM CDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 2 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF HICKSON...OR 13 MILES SOUTH OF FARGO. A TORNADO MAY
  DEVELOP AT ANY TIME. RADAR SHOWED THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE      
  EAST AT 10 MPH. AT 235 PM...A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE             
  METEOROLOGIST REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD EAST OF EXIT 50 ALONG        
  INTERSTATE 29.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  COMSTOCK AROUND 245 PM CDT.
  BAKER AROUND 315 PM CDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

&&

LAT...LON 4665 9680 4668 9680 4672 9678 4675 9679
      4676 9678 4673 9652 4663 9664 4663 9675
TIME...MOT...LOC 1938Z 288DEG 7KT 4669 9677

$$

GROCHOCINSKI
1 follow-up statement
458 
WWUS53 KFGF 062005
SVSFGF

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
305 PM CDT SAT AUG 6 2011

MNC027-062015-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0054.000000T0000Z-110806T2015Z/
CLAY MN-
305 PM CDT SAT AUG 6 2011

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWESTERN CLAY COUNTY
IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA UNTIL 315 PM CDT...

AT 302 PM CDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR 
COMSTOCK...OR 16 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FARGO...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 
MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  BAKER AROUND 315 PM CDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A STURDY BUILDING.

&&

LAT...LON 4665 9680 4668 9680 4672 9678 4675 9679
      4676 9678 4673 9652 4663 9664 4663 9675
TIME...MOT...LOC 2005Z 282DEG 11KT 4666 9666

$$

G2

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2011Every tornado warning in 2011Tornadoes in 2011

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.