Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Watches in 2011
Tornado Watch 424
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 3, 2011, 5:28 PM CDT for 7 counties in Minnesota; Burnett County, Douglas County, Washburn County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 3, 2011, 5:28 PM CDT (22:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 3, 2011, 10:47 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Aitkin County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Cook County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Lake County, MN, Pine County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN, Burnett County, WI, Douglas County, WI, Washburn County, WI
The radar
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:31 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
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 10:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Cook | 20 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
International Fa, MN (KINL), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 134 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 603 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 396 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 422 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
987
WWUS20 KWNS 032231
SEL4
SPC WW 032231
MNZ000-WIZ000-040500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 424
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
530 PM CDT FRI JUN 3 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST MINNESOTA INCLUDING THE ARROWHEAD
NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON FROM 530 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT 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 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTH OF ELY
MINNESOTA TO 40 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF BRAINERD MINNESOTA. FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).
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 423...
DISCUSSION...TSTMS ARE DEVELOPING ALONG A COLD FRONT WITHIN A MOIST
AND MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS WHERE MLCAPE HAS INCREASED TO
1500-2500 J/KG. THIS AREA OF INITIATION COINCIDES WITH THE SERN
EDGE OF 70-75 KT MIDLEVEL JET STREAK...RESULTING IN 45-50+ KT
DEEP...SWLY SHEAR. AS SUCH...SETUP WILL FAVOR SUPERCELL EVOLUTION
WITH THE PRIMARY HAZARD BEING VERY LARGE HAIL. A COUPLE OF
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY MATURE SUPERCELLS THAT CAN
FAVORABLY INTERACT WITH WELL-DEFINED LAKE BREEZE BOUNDARY.
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 25035.
...MEADSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 1:11 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk and 2 more | 94 min |
| Jun 3, 1:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Clay, Kittson, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk and 2 more | 4 hr |
| Jun 3, 3:33 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Goodhue, Wabasha | 87 min |
| Jun 3, 5:10 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Buffalo, Chippewa and 31 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Minnesota, 2011Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2011Every tornado 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.