Alert archive / North Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2016

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 263

June 17, 201623 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 17, 2016, 12:26 AM MDT for 23 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 17, 2016, 12:26 AM MDT (06:26 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 2016, 6:00 AM MDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 23 counties

Adams County, ND, Billings County, ND, Bowman County, ND, Burleigh County, ND, Dunn County, ND, Emmons County, ND, Foster County, ND, Golden Valley County, ND, Grant County, ND, Hettinger County, ND, Kidder County, ND, LaMoure County, ND, Logan County, ND, McLean County, ND, Mercer County, ND, Morton County, ND, Oliver County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Sioux County, ND, Slope County, ND, Stark County, ND, Stutsman County, ND, Wells County, ND

The radar

The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:28 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
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 12:43 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBillings, Dunn, Hettinger, Slope, Stark62 min
Jun 17, 12:58 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGrant, Morton49 min
Jun 17, 1:30 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGrant, Hettinger, Morton, Stark60 min
Jun 17, 1:57 AM MDTTornado WarningBISGrant, Hettinger33 min
Jun 17, 2:28 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGrant, Morton, Oliver47 min
Jun 17, 2:58 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh, Emmons, Morton, Oliver62 min
Jun 17, 3:57 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBurleigh, Kidder, Sheridan, Wells63 min
Jun 17, 5:19 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISFoster, Stutsman56 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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 140 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2016-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2745 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 00:00Z on 2016-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2745 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

862 
WWUS20 KWNS 170624
SEL3  
SPC WW 170624
NDZ000-171200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 263
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
125 AM CDT FRI JUN 17 2016

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA

* EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING FROM 125 AM UNTIL 700 AM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2
    INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING OVER SOUTHWEST ND.  THESE
STORMS WILL TRACK QUICKLY EASTWARD DURING THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS...POSING A RISK OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS THE
WATCH AREA.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60
STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES WEST OF
DICKINSON NORTH DAKOTA TO 30 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF BISMARCK
NORTH DAKOTA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

&&

AVIATION...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.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 11:36 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBillings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Mercer and 2 more84 min
Jun 17, 2:23 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Burleigh, Eddy, Foster, Griggs, Kidder and 7 more97 min
Jun 17, 4:44 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Eddy, Foster, Grand Forks, Griggs, Nelson and 3 more61 min
Jun 17, 6:20 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCGrand Forks, Steele, Traill, Walsh4 hr
Jun 17, 6:32 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGrand Forks, Pembina, Steele, Traill, Walsh28 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Dakota, 2016Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2016

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.