Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 555

August 3, 20124 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 3, 2012, 7:33 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 3, 2012, 7:33 PM CDT (00:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 2012, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 80 counties

Buena Vista County, IA, Cherokee County, IA, Clay County, IA, Dickinson County, IA, Ida County, IA, Lyon County, IA, O'Brien County, IA, Osceola County, IA, Plymouth County, IA, Sioux County, IA, Woodbury County, IA, Aitkin County, MN, Anoka County, MN, Beltrami County, MN, Benton County, MN, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Carver County, MN, Cass County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Chisago County, MN, Clearwater County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Crow Wing County, MN, Dakota County, MN, Douglas County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Hennepin County, MN, Hubbard County, MN, Isanti County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Jackson County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Kandiyohi County, MN, Koochiching County, MN, Lac qui Parle County, MN, Lake of the Woods County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, Lincoln County, MN, Lyon County, MN, Martin County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Nobles County, MN, Pine County, MN, Pipestone County, MN, Pope County, MN, Ramsey County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Rice County, MN, Rock County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Stevens County, MN, Swift County, MN, Todd County, MN, Wadena County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Washington County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Wright County, MN, Yellow Medicine County, MN, Dakota County, NE, Dixon County, NE, Clay County, SD, Lincoln County, SD, McCook County, SD, Minnehaha County, SD, Moody County, SD, Turner County, SD, Union County, SD, Yankton County, SD

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 191 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:33 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
70%
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
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 7:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXLac qui Parle, Yellow Medicine53 min
Aug 3, 7:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBrookings, Davison, Hanson, Kingsbury, Lake, McCook and 2 more44 min
Aug 3, 7:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Clearwater, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake66 min
Aug 3, 8:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker, Clay, Clearwater, Hubbard, Otter Tail, Wadena63 min
Aug 3, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBecker, Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman and 1 more55 min
Aug 3, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLincoln25 min
Aug 3, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle, Renville, Swift, Yellow Medicine55 min
Aug 3, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLincoln, Pipestone, Rock52 min
Aug 3, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDouglas, Pope, Stevens49 min
Aug 3, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGFBeltrami, Clearwater, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Roseau63 min
Aug 3, 8:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCass, Crow Wing, Itasca46 min
Aug 3, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHItasca, Koochiching35 min
Aug 3, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBrown, Redwood, Renville, Yellow Medicine59 min
Aug 3, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Pope, Renville, Stearns and 2 more53 min
Aug 3, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Cass, Itasca48 min
Aug 3, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, McLeod, Nicollet, Redwood, Renville and 1 more58 min
Aug 3, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod, Meeker, Renville, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright38 min
Aug 3, 10:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Cass, Crow Wing37 min
Aug 3, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXCarver, Hennepin36 min
Aug 3, 10:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDDickinson32 min
Aug 3, 10:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Benton, Isanti, Mille Lacs, Sherburne, Wright46 min
Aug 3, 10:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Carver, Hennepin, Sherburne, Wright25 min
Aug 3, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and 2 more39 min
Aug 3, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Carlton, Saint Louis53 min
Aug 3, 11:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXAnoka, Chisago, Isanti33 min
Aug 3, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Goodhue, Rice, Scott, Washington42 min
Aug 3, 11:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChisago, Washington67 min
Aug 3, 11:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDakota, Goodhue, Washington61 min
Aug 4, 1:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFaribault, Martin65 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 00:00Z on 2012-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 576 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 00:00Z on 2012-08-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 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
576 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 10:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCWorth87 min
Aug 4, 10:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppanoose, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan and 44 more49 min
Aug 4, 10:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAppanoose, Benton, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton and 27 more5 hr
Aug 4, 1:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clayton, Clinton, Delaware and 15 more66 min
Aug 3, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCDodge, Freeborn, Goodhue, Olmsted, Steele, Wabasha and 1 more4 hr
Aug 3, 7:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cedar, Custer and 14 more7 hr
Aug 3, 11:19 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boone, Cedar, Custer, Garfield and 10 more86 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Iowa, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Dakota, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.