Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 709

August 1, 201149 counties in Minnesota; 10 counties in North Dakota; 4 counties in South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 1, 2011, 11:52 AM CDT for 49 counties in Minnesota; 10 counties in North Dakota; 4 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 1, 2011, 11:52 AM CDT (16:52 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 2011, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 63 counties

Anoka County, MN, Becker County, MN, Benton County, MN, Big Stone County, MN, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carver County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Chisago County, MN, Clay County, MN, Dakota County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Goodhue County, MN, Grant County, MN, Hennepin County, MN, Isanti County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Kandiyohi County, MN, Lac qui Parle County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, Mahnomen County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Norman County, MN, Otter Tail County, MN, Polk County, MN, Pope County, MN, Ramsey County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Rice County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Steele County, MN, Stevens County, MN, Swift County, MN, Todd County, MN, Traverse County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Washington County, MN, Wilkin County, MN, Wright County, MN, Yellow Medicine County, MN, Barnes County, ND, Cass County, ND, Grand Forks County, ND, Griggs County, ND, Nelson County, ND, Ransom County, ND, Richland County, ND, Sargent County, ND, Steele County, ND, Traill County, ND, Day County, SD, Grant County, SD, Marshall County, SD, Roberts County, SD

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 186 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:53 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
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 11:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSherburne, Stearns, Wright67 min
Aug 1, 12:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver, McLeod, Meeker, Renville, Sibley57 min
Aug 1, 12:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver, Hennepin45 min
Aug 1, 1:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Le Sueur, Rice, Scott, Sibley57 min
Aug 1, 1:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Washington65 min
Aug 1, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue, Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Waseca58 min
Aug 1, 3:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXGoodhue37 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 230 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 2011-08-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2974 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 2011-08-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
2974 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 1:50 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard, Mitchell and 1 more25 min
Aug 1, 2:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllamakee, Howard, Mitchell, Winneshiek5 hr
Aug 1, 3:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Chickasaw, Howard, Mitchell, Winneshiek, Worth67 min
Jul 31, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBecker, Clay, Clearwater, Grant, Kittson, Mahnomen and 8 more8 hr
Aug 1, 12:35 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Norman, Polk85 min
Aug 1, 2:31 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Douglas and 11 more89 min
Aug 1, 4:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBecker, Benton, Big Stone, Brown, Cass, Chippewa and 28 more7 hr
Aug 1, 7:31 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa and 33 more89 min
Aug 1, 10:42 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pope and 5 more63 min
Aug 1, 11:29 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnoka, Benton, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin and 8 more31 min
Jul 31, 8:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Grant, Morton, Sioux89 min
Aug 1, 1:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Burleigh, Emmons, Grant, Hettinger, Kidder and 10 more57 min
Aug 1, 2:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bowman, Burleigh, Emmons, Grant, Hettinger and 10 more6 hr
Aug 1, 5:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Barnes, Benson, Burleigh, Cavalier, Dickey and 23 more2 hr
Aug 1, 6:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Barnes, Benson, Burleigh, Cavalier, Dickey and 23 more2 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Dakota, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Dakota, 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.