Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2012

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 1, 2012Sherburne County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 1, 2012, 5:38 PM CDT for Sherburne County, Minnesota. It was in force for 37 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 1, 2012, 5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 2012, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Storm-based polygon

County Sherburne County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 1, 2:59 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 2012-05-01Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2012-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 163 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
1291 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 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.

547 
WFUS53 KMPX 012238
TORMPX
MNC141-012315-
/O.NEW.KMPX.TO.W.0014.120501T2238Z-120501T2315Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
538 PM CDT TUE MAY 1 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SHERBURNE COUNTY IN CENTRAL MINNESOTA...

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 534 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS 3 MILES WEST OF
  BECKER...OR ABOUT OVER ENFIELD...AND MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. FUNNEL
  CLOUDS WERE REPORTED WEST OF BECKER WITH THIS STORM.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
  BECKER...
  SANTIAGO...
  BIG LAKE...
  ELK RIVER...
  ZIMMERMAN...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON RADAR...IT MEANS THAT
STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY ALREADY
BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT TUESDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHERN MINNESOTA.

&&

LAT...LON 4556 9352 4531 9352 4530 9377 4534 9383
      4534 9386 4539 9392 4538 9396 4555 9399
TIME...MOT...LOC 2238Z 258DEG 27KT 4537 9388

$$
1 follow-up statement
649 
WWUS53 KMPX 012259
SVSMPX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
559 PM CDT TUE MAY 1 2012

MNC141-012315-
/O.CON.KMPX.TO.W.0014.000000T0000Z-120501T2315Z/
SHERBURNE MN-
559 PM CDT TUE MAY 1 2012

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN SHERBURNE COUNTY
UNTIL 615 PM CDT...

AT 555 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO.  THIS DANGEROUS STORM
WAS LOCATED NEAR BIG LAKE...OR 14 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PRINCETON...
MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  ZIMMERMAN.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A
STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR
OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT
YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

&&

LAT...LON 4537 9380 4540 9383 4553 9380 4556 9352
      4536 9352
TIME...MOT...LOC 2259Z 254DEG 23KT 4541 9373

$$

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 4:41 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementMPXDouglas, Morrison, Pope, Stevens, Todd79 min
May 1, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope, Stearns33 min
May 1, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSherburne, Stearns, Wright35 min
May 1, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPope, Stearns47 min
May 1, 4:46 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXPope, Stearns44 min
May 1, 5:07 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXSherburne, Stearns, Wright38 min
May 1, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine67 min
May 1, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXStearns36 min
May 1, 5:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRedwood, Yellow Medicine32 min
May 1, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Morrison, Stearns37 min
May 1, 5:44 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXBenton, Sherburne, Stearns46 min
May 1, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRedwood52 min
May 1, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXIsanti, Sherburne46 min
May 1, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningMPXBenton, Sherburne35 min
May 1, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBrown, Redwood62 min
May 1, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBenton, Mille Lacs, Sherburne34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2012Every tornado warning in 2012Tornadoes in 2012

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.