Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 2012
Tornado Warning 17, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this tornado warning at May 2, 2012, 5:50 PM CDT for 4 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 2, 2012, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 2012, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
Counties Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Watonwan County, MN
The radar
The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 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 was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 6:10 PM CDT | HAIL 0.75 | 4 N Lake Crystal, MN |
Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 5:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 96 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
- 4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -280 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 847 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
491 WFUS53 KMPX 022250 TORMPX MNC013-015-103-165-022330- /O.NEW.KMPX.TO.W.0017.120502T2250Z-120502T2330Z/ BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 550 PM CDT WED MAY 2 2012 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE TWIN CITIES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHEASTERN BROWN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA... SOUTH CENTRAL NICOLLET COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA... EXTREME NORTHEASTERN WATONWAN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA... NORTHWESTERN BLUE EARTH COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA... * UNTIL 630 PM CDT * AT 547 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS 11 MILES WEST OF LAKE CRYSTAL...OR ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HANSKA...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE... LAKE CRYSTAL... 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. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. && LAT...LON 4423 9420 4406 9419 4409 9447 4414 9448 TIME...MOT...LOC 2249Z 240DEG 17KT 4413 9442 $$
The office that day
Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 7:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Sherburne, Stearns, Wright | 52 min |
| May 1, 7:23 PM CDT | Special Weather Statement | MPX | Isanti, Kanabec | 52 min |
| May 1, 7:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Carver, McLeod, Sibley | 51 min |
| May 1, 7:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec | 45 min |
| May 1, 7:55 PM CDT | Special Weather Statement | MPX | Anoka | 50 min |
| May 1, 8:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Anoka, Chisago, Isanti | 37 min |
| May 1, 8:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Brown, Nicollet, Sibley | 66 min |
| May 1, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Brown, Redwood | 25 min |
| May 1, 9:24 PM CDT | Special Weather Statement | MPX | Nicollet, Sibley | 51 min |
| May 1, 10:11 PM CDT | Special Weather Statement | MPX | Blue Earth, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet | 49 min |
| May 1, 11:12 PM CDT | Special Weather Statement | MPX | Freeborn, Rice, Steele, Waseca | 48 min |
| May 2, 5:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Blue Earth, Brown, Watonwan | 53 min |
| May 2, 6:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Waseca | 55 min |
| May 2, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Goodhue, Rice, Steele | 60 min |
| May 2, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Brown, Redwood | 60 min |
| May 2, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Le Sueur, Rice, Steele, Waseca | 47 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.