Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 596

July 4, 201118 counties in Minnesota; 28 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 4, 2011, 3:06 PM CDT for 18 counties in Minnesota; 28 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 4, 2011, 3:06 PM CDT (20:06 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 2011, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 46 counties

Becker County, MN, Beltrami County, MN, Clay County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Grant County, MN, Hubbard County, MN, Kittson County, MN, Lake of the Woods County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, Marshall County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Pennington County, MN, Polk County, MN, Red Lake County, MN, Roseau County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Wilkin County, MN, Barnes County, ND, Benson County, ND, Burleigh County, ND, Cass County, ND, Cavalier County, ND, Dickey County, ND, Eddy County, ND, Emmons County, ND, Foster County, ND, Grand Forks County, ND, Griggs County, ND, Kidder County, ND, LaMoure County, ND, Logan County, ND, McIntosh County, ND, Nelson County, ND, Pembina County, ND, Ramsey County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Steele County, ND, Stutsman County, ND, Towner County, ND, Traill County, ND, Walsh County, ND, Wells County, ND

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:09 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
70%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Towner65 min
Jul 4, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFCavalier, Ramsey, Towner67 min
Jul 4, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson52 min
Jul 4, 4:51 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFKittson39 min
Jul 4, 5:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau55 min
Jul 4, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson61 min
Jul 4, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFRoseau61 min
Jul 4, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFKittson, Marshall, Roseau59 min
Jul 4, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake65 min
Jul 4, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Roseau63 min
Jul 4, 7:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFMarshall, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake56 min
Jul 4, 7:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Clearwater, Lake of the Woods48 min
Jul 4, 7:55 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFPolk, Red Lake50 min
Jul 4, 8:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFNorman, Polk58 min
Jul 4, 8:50 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFNorman, Polk40 min
Jul 4, 9:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay, Norman63 min
Jul 4, 9:21 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFClay39 min
Jul 4, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFClay65 min
Jul 4, 9:51 PM CDTTornado WarningFGFCass39 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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 239 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2011-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1357 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 2011-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1357 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-268 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1232 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 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.

949 
WWUS20 KWNS 042006
SEL6
SPC WW 042006
MNZ000-NDZ000-050300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 596
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
310 PM CDT MON JUL 4 2011

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

       WESTERN MINNESOTA
       EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 310 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 120
STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF
HALLOCK MINNESOTA TO 75 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF FARGO NORTH
DAKOTA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED
WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 593...WW 594...WW 595...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY THIS
AFTERNOON ALONG AND AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT SURGING SOUTHEASTWARD
ACROSS ND.  HIGH CAPE AND VERY MOIST ENVIRONMENT...COUPLED WITH
FAVORABLE VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES...WILL PROMOTE SUPERCELL STORMS
CAPABLE OF VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 28030.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 1:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKittson, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk and 1 more64 min
Jul 4, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBig Stone, Traverse8 hr
Jul 4, 6:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Cass, Clay, Clearwater and 19 more2 hr
Jul 3, 9:02 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBillings, Bowman, Burke, Divide, Dunn, Golden Valley and 4 more58 min
Jul 3, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Billings, Bowman, Burke, Divide, Dunn and 11 more3 hr
Jul 3, 11:30 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Billings, Bowman, Burke, Divide, Dunn and 12 more90 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Dakota, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.