Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2015

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 480

August 8, 201512 counties in Minnesota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 8, 2015, 3:25 PM CDT for 12 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 8, 2015, 3:25 PM CDT (20:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 2015, 8:41 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, Cass County, MN, Cook County, MN, Crow Wing County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Lake County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Pine County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN

The radar

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:29 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCrow Wing26 min
Aug 8, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin29 min
Aug 8, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis25 min
Aug 8, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHLake, Saint Louis24 min
Aug 8, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHSaint Louis19 min
Aug 8, 4:24 PM CDTTornado WarningDLHSaint Louis36 min
Aug 8, 4:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHLake, Saint Louis31 min
Aug 8, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHLake32 min
Aug 8, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Carlton27 min
Aug 8, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Pine31 min
Aug 8, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCarlton, Pine47 min
Aug 8, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCook33 min
Aug 8, 7:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAitkin, Carlton27 min
Aug 8, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCook37 min
Aug 8, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHCook11 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 176 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2015-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 452 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2015-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
452 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
982 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 1:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Benton, Carlton, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard and 9 more2 hr
Aug 8, 6:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Carlton, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kanabec, Lake and 5 more64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2015Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2015

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.