Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 505

September 16, 202120 counties in Minnesota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Sep 16, 2021, 6:39 PM CDT for 20 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 16, 2021, 6:39 PM CDT (23:39 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 2021, 10:15 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Benton County, MN, Brown County, MN, Chippewa County, MN, Cottonwood County, MN, Isanti County, MN, Kandiyohi County, MN, Lincoln County, MN, Lyon County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Murray County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Pipestone County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Wright County, MN, Yellow Medicine County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:39 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.

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
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 6:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Lac qui Parle, Renville, Yellow Medicine35 min
Sep 16, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXStearns42 min
Sep 16, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Kandiyohi37 min
Sep 16, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Kandiyohi, Renville27 min
Sep 16, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatMPXKandiyohi, Renville31 min
Sep 16, 8:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXKandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Renville33 min
Sep 16, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXMcLeod, Meeker, Wright30 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 139 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 2021-09-16Temperature 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 2021-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 362 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1213 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
362 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
428 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

554 
WWUS20 KWNS 162336
SEL5  
SPC WW 162336
MNZ000-170700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 505
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
640 PM CDT Thu Sep 16 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Central and southwestern Minnesota

* Effective this Thursday night and Friday morning from 640 PM
  until 200 AM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2.5
    inches in diameter possible
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...Strengthening and backbuilding convection near a cold
front will pose a threat mainly for severe hail and damaging gusts
into tonight.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 50
statute miles east and west of a line from 60 miles southwest of
Redwood Falls MN to 15 miles north northeast of Saint Cloud MN. For
a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

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.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 504...

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
2.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 550. Mean storm motion vector
23030.

...Edwards

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 3:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Anoka, Benton, Carlton, Carver, Cass and 25 more118 min
Sep 16, 5:57 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAitkin, Carlton, Crow Wing, Kanabec, Lake, Mille Lacs and 4 more4 hr
Sep 16, 6:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChippewa, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln and 13 more97 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.