Alert archive / North Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2011

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Grand Forks, ND

May 27, 2011Barnes County, Cass County, North Dakota

NWS Grand Forks, ND issued this tornado warning at May 27, 2011, 5:51 PM CDT for Barnes County, Cass County, North Dakota. It was in force for 24 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 2011, 5:51 PM CDT (22:51 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 2011, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Grand Forks, ND
Area
Storm-based polygon

Counties Barnes County, ND, Cass County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:54 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

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 234 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 2011-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2011-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 148 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
572 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 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.

404 
WFUS53 KFGF 272251
TORFGF
NDC003-017-272330-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0006.110527T2251Z-110527T2330Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
551 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL BARNES COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
  WEST CENTRAL CASS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 549 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE STORM WAS
  LOCATED 6 MILES SOUTH OF ORISKA...OR 13 MILES EAST OF VALLEY
  CITY...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  TOWER CITY AROUND 600 PM CDT.
  BUFFALO AROUND 620 PM CDT.
  WHEATLAND...EMBDEN AND CHAFFEE AROUND 630 PM CDT.

THEREAFTER SOME OTHER LOCATIONS IMPACTED BY THE TORNADIC STORM
INCLUDE ABSARAKA.

FOR MOTORISTS ON INTERSTATE 94...THE TORNADIC STORM WILL BE
BETWEEN...MILE MARKER 310 AROUND 605 PM CDT...AND MILE MARKER 321
AROUND 630 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 4701 9727 4676 9726 4677 9782 4700 9784
TIME...MOT...LOC 2251Z 269DEG 17KT 4685 9774

$$

HOPKINS
1 follow-up statement
873 
WWUS53 KFGF 272315
SVSFGF

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
615 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 2011

NDC003-017-272325-
/O.CAN.KFGF.TO.W.0006.000000T0000Z-110527T2330Z/
BARNES ND-CASS ND-
615 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 2011

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR WESTERN CASS AND EAST CENTRAL BARNES
COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA IS CANCELLED...

THE STORM WHICH PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED BELOW SEVERE
LIMITS...AND NO LONGER POSES AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO LIFE OR PROPERTY.
 HOWEVER HEAVY RAIN IS STILL POSSIBLE WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.

LAT...LON 4701 9727 4676 9726 4677 9782 4700 9784
TIME...MOT...LOC 2315Z 269DEG 17KT 4685 9757

$$

HOPKINS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Grand Forks, ND issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 4:55 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBarnes50 min
May 27, 5:31 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFBarnes, Cass44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Dakota, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.