News Detail2+ tornadic supercells in northeast ND!!
Posted At: August 26, 2007 @ 7:28 PM
Posted By: Reed Timmer
Related Categories: Tornadoes
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News Detail
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WWUS53 KFGF 270031
SVSFGF
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
731 PM CDT SUN AUG 26 2007
NDC067-270045-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0034.000000T0000Z-070827T0045Z/
PEMBINA ND-
731 PM CDT SUN AUG 26 2007
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 745 PM CDT FOR SOUTHERN
PEMBINA COUNTY...
AT 731 PM CDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD. THE FUNNEL
CLOUD WAS LOCATED NEAR HOOPLE...OR 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF GRAFTON...
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.
* THE FUNNEL CLOUD WILL BE NEAR...
ST. THOMAS BY 740 PM CDT...
10 MILES SOUTH OF GLASSTON BY 745 PM CDT...
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A STURDY BUILDING.
A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING
FOR NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA.
LAT...LON 4860 9790 4856 9784 4856 9722 4884 9760
right movers...awesome...!! goddamn!!!!!
Thanks to Joe surfer who tell's us to change of "blog"... ;-)
Hey! I'm just reporting that to my East I see a massive thunderstorm developing rapidly....all low-level small clouds around appear to be moving towards it. I really wish I had a camera...it looks really weird!
Jon
Also, do you know why EC only has a Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect with the tornadic potential there? I'm just curious.
I will repeat my last question... maybe i'll look knucklehead but i want to learn this...
Can anybody show me what a "hook" looks like on a radar??? Is it supposed to be in front of the storm or behind it???
i can see one of those supercells from where i am and it doesen't look good.
these cells have to be loving these low 70's dewpoints!
Caro,
http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints/238/
Other than that, ask Reed on a slow day
Yes...not to mention 4500 CAPE, 36 Sig. Tornado levels, and 9 0-1km EHI's......somethins gotta happen!
This is what they say on EC... "This is a warning that severe thunderstorms are imminent or occurring in these regions. Remember some severe thunderstorms produce tornadoes"
thanks for the info!
Thanks Joe!!
the grafton, ND supercell has been consistently showing a 60-75 dbz core...i bet its gotta be dropping some serious hail...
great link for the webcam onthe last blog caro thanks
is that another hook just east of McVille?
good call joe...shes warned now...!
Where's Reed? we need him to tell us.
Also, what about that southernmost cell way down by Napoleon, I wonder if that thing could spout something.
It just did as I typed that... Napoleon... and honest I didn't see the warning first! LOL
Hey! I'm back! Had to take care of a few things! WoW those cell are awesome!!! I gots to run out and secure he WIV in a min here!!
These supercells are incredible!!
i was watching that cell for awile now, and figured it was only a matter of time before she produced...!!! unbelieveable...this is like may!!!!!!
That cell north of Napoleon is not gonna be nice to any cars in its path... monster hail producer it looks like.
http://www.kxmb.com/viewBigImage.asp?imageHref=/images/weather/skycam.jpg?Date=8/26/2007%208:07:51%20PM
That is a link to one of the Bismarck tv stations sky cam!
We are big time due for tornado warnings too!
Here is another sky cam from Bismarck...
http://www.kfyrtv.com/sky_watch.asp
Caro, if you still want to see a hook, it may not be long now before you can!
thanks for the link JY
Yeah! I hope I will see one!
I hate the way the top of the tornado warning box for Northern Kittson County is dead-even flush with the Canadian border... it would be nice to have some sort of integrated N. American system that showed the whole area
"Tornadoes Without Borders" or something like that
nice link JY...that thing is perfect and its looking like its trying to overshoot its top too...!
The last time we had a tornado warning about 2yrs ago.
18 sirens failed to sound around town! It was a useless storm anyway but still!
Is that a hook sw of Larimore???
No kidding Joe! weather don't know borders!
the more i look, thats gotta be looking south-east from bismarck directly at the napeleon, ND supercell thats apparently producing...so wicked!!
This is the cell near Bismarck...it looks good on the radar too!
http://www.webcambiglook.com/nd/bismarck.html
Hey Derek, where r u?
"Posted By derek | August 26, 2007 @ 7:45 PM #
i can see one of those supercells from where i am and it doesen't look good."
This storm looks crazy! It's beautiful with the sunset
http://www.webcambiglook.com/nd/bismarck.html
I've been gone since right after the tornado watch box came up, but I left GR3 on the Grand Forks radar - WOW!!!!! Playing the loop is unreal! Anyone notice that the southern-most cell is just SITTING THERE!!!!
I wonder if Reed lost it and is heading north on I-35!!! :-D
if you havent already heidi...look at the link caros posting...its INSANE! gotta be at least 50,000+!!!
Well... I better get the coffee on cuz I don't think I'll b sleeping tonite!! I don't like the thought of monster nighttime wedges bearing down on me and my WIV!!
Screw it... It's insured!
Brady there ain't nothin near Duluth! Until tomorrow anyway... I think
I just looked at the SkyCam, too - That is AWESOME! Yeah, um, it looks like the "Mother Ship" too!!
Thanks JY!
Has anyone said AAAAAAAAAAA yet?! :-D
I don't want to leave but the first day of school is tomorrow and I haven't read all my summer reading crap... :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
(I'm sad)
Looks Like something went wrong in Minot if ya know what I mean!!=( nukes!
Cliff Notes, Connor... Cliff Notes!
Lol I can't look at that skycam image without thinking, "Independence Day?"
LOL Joe thanks. I actually already am using Cliff Notes and Spark Notes, but it doesn't help with all of it.
AT 834 PM CDT...LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO. THIS
TORNADO WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH CENTRAL LOGAN COUNTY...5 MILES
NORTHEAST OF NAPOLEON...OR ABOUT 51 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
JAMESTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
What do you thing about the cell of larimore ? Is there a hook south of it???
I think Connor answer just answer to my question by posting this...
Caro, I'm not experienced enough to know whether that's a hook, or an inflow notch, or what..
All three cells are developing hooks!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
3 inch hail on the Napoleon cell!!!
Once again... AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
im thinking that cell east of bismarck is looking the best...60-70dbz core in that beast...serious hail with it too i bet...
I'm thinking Northwood is screwed
LAW ENFORCEMENT
REPORTED STORM DAMAGE DUE TO A TORNADO IN THE CITY OF NORTHWOOD.
PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS EAST OF NORTHWOOD SHOULD SEEK SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
There's a little bit of a couplet in there Connor isn't there?
im hoping the residents of northwood got the warning and took or are taking cover as we speak...
This is insane!! I can't handle myself here!! hehe
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NORTHEASTERN MARSHALL COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MINNESOTA...
* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
* AT 857 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 2 MILES EAST OF
FLORIAN...OR 29 MILES NORTHWEST OF THIEF RIVER FALLS...MOVING TO
THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A LARGE
AND DANGEROUS TORNADO AT ANY TIME.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE ABOUT...
5 MILES NORTH OF NEWFOLDEN AT 905 PM CDT...
MIDDLE RIVER AT 915 PM CDT...
GATZKE AT 940 PM CDT...
Yeah Joe there is. Brandon, it's probably too late to for them to take cover. It looks like the twister has already moved through.
HE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BISMARCK HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
CENTRAL LOGAN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
* UNTIL 930 PM CDT
* AT 859 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
A TORNADO OVER CENTRAL LOGAN COUNTY...OR ABOUT 46 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF JAMESTOWN...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
RURAL CENTRAL LOGAN COUNTY AROUND 910 PM CDT...
RURAL EASTERN LOGAN COUNTY AROUND 930 PM CDT...
What a difference a month can make
It doesn't really fire up till late aug and sept
Btw
July highs here(Alberta) AVG around 27C(80F),5C(9F) above normal
Flip the coin for august at 18C(65F) 4C(7F) below normal
last chance in September for good storms here. If not I'll see you in may down in OK.
Fortunately (from what I can tell anyway) there doesn't appear to be much of anything east of Northwood population-wise
Wow I can just start to see cloud tops on the horizon! Last squeek of light is gone now! WoW!
im liking the couplet on the storm heidi just mentioned...
yeah, your probly right connor...
Local radio is reporting tornado damage in Northwood. Looks like it will pass south of us here in Grand Forks.
Worst part about it. Its dark out. Only way you will see one coming now is if it back lighted by lightning. No thanks.
hey that sucker east of Napoleon is still looking potent..
If that Northwood cell keeps going, it will be at Crookston, MN, which is about 8,000 people. Northwood is about 1,000.
Last time I did this kind of "how many people in ___ town..." was the weekend of Greensburg. :(
Bedtime for me... I have to quit even if the action has just begun... I hope you will have a great show tonight and I hope no one will get hurt... See ya!
Sweet dreams Caro! Don't worry we'll call your arse up if them cells get all the way to Montreal!
lol ! I think i'm safe here...nothing happens here... :-(
Thanks for everything! It was great!
Well.. Duluth alone has about 90k i think! lets hope we're not the next Greesnburg!
Brady? I'm still not seeing anything for Duluth. If you see something it must be smoke from Farmer Olaf's haystack.
I think its just the haze and the horizon!!
Sirens are sounding in Grand Forks as a precautionary measure. Someone reports a funnel cloud between Northwood and Emarado.
is looking good nw then....well froma chasers point of view hope no one gets hurt n all this
Heidi, I remember saying that about Greensburg also. We also had to do it for Tulia and Cactus, TX, both of which got hit extremely hard
This looks like May in Kansas...
According to GR3, the base on the meso just east of the TVS symbol on the storm south of Grandforks is only 800 feet off the ground. That does not sound very friendly, if it is accurate. 8-O
WOW!!
The LLJ is up to 50 knots. I hope all is well in Northwood. It looked like the cell cycled at least twice...Very similar to Greensburg..although not nearly as intense.
I wonder if the cell near Pembina produced...the shear is incredible in northern MN right now.
We're in the basement. Man, this is some the loudest thunder I've heard in a long time.
PCM - is it thunder, or is it THE ROAR?!
no doubt theres a tube on the ground near grand forks...
on the NWS radar loop at approx. 9:00pm CDT you can see a classic hook. it doesnt get any better than that...lets hope everyone is northwood and surrounding areas are safe and ok...
Just for the record, I wasn't trying to compare tonight to the Greensburg night... just commenting that the radar looks like a radar loop from May in tornado alley.
I can't leave right now! impossible! I'm "scotched" to my screen!
That cell by Grand Forks looks like a bowl of Lucky Charms... green triangles, red circles, and orange mesos!
Oh, and purple TVS's!
It's definitely thunder I'm hearing. Sounds like the crack of a cannon. Some on the radio are reporting that a tornado passed over I-29 four or five miles south of Grand Forks.
Well I'm back! With some amazing pictures. I'll sort through em and upload the best! *does a little dance*
Wow! I'm kinda glad I didn't go!! and kinda wishin I did!! hehe
Does anyone remember the "tornado emergency" that Dodge City put out for Greensburg?
When does a "tornado warning" become a "tornado emergency"? Is there some criteria for it or what?
thanks for the updates PCM...if theres a link to the pictures tim let us know!!!
I don't know for sure what makes atornado emergency. I think it is when a large, powerful tornado has been confirmed heading right for a city.
Radio reports a home destroyed in Northwood. Fortunately, the family living there got in the basement in time.
More reports on the radio with people calling in other damage in Northwood.
Did the supercell in Logan County SD split? I've always wanted to see that in person. Maybe the eastern one can turn right more and take advantage of the SRH.
I really hope nobody gets hurt too bad!!
*Correction ND not SD
When the forum calms down I want to ask someone what it means about a cell splitting. I've heard Andrew mention it before too. Is that a favorable sign for a tornado development, or what? will try to remember to ask again.
Dick, the Logan Co. storm might be splitting at the present time. I guess we'll have to wait and see if it's just cycling. You didn't miss anything, if that's what you're asking! That new top on the western side just popped up within the last 5-10 minutes.
Just went upstairs to take a look. The lightning is phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it. It's just non-stop flashes. Radio reports that nobody is being allowed into Northwood.
ah jeeez!
Northwood doesn't seem to be entirely out of the woods yet... still seems to be some storm crawling over them if I am reading the radar correctly
Joe, take a look at that Logan Co. storm, and run the loop on GR3. (hit the play button ;) See how it forms a new area of intensity on the western side in the last few frames? Sometimes that is a sign that the cell is "splitting" and the eastern part will move ahead of the new part on the western side, and in effect there will be two discrete storms from what used to be one. I think that generally, the part that stays south and west is usually the stronger of the two, but that is not *always* the case.
That's my (as you like to say) totally uneducated, unqualified take on the splitting thing!
In addition, is it not true that the storm that became the Greensburg cell was at one time part of the same cell that Reed lost his cellphone to in Oklahoma? I'm pretty sure that the Greensburg part split from that while it was still in the Texas Panhandle. Obviously, this is not necesarily consistent with what I just said about the southwestern side of the split being the meaner of the two, since Greensburg is north of Ellis Co.
But again, someone who knows things could just go ahead and say that all of what I said is crapola! :-D
Starting too see some stuff on Duluth! hehe!!
Tornado warning issued for extreme Grand Forks County and northwest Polk County in Minnesota.
Heidi - you rule. I hit the play button, and since I've been parked on that radar for awhile, it totally showed the split. I take it from what I've heard that a split essentially creates two potent cells. t/y
Hook and couplet on that cell east of Stephen MN?
I'm not sure that the Logan Co. storm is showing the split as much as the Grand Forks storm is right now. ... That's not to say that the Logan Co. storm won't split eventually, but at this time the Grand Forks storm looks to be almost finished the process.
In case anybody hasnt already said so...these storms are also bad in southeastern manitoba. Tornado watches out...and funnels/possible tornadoes have been spotted.
Man......I'm also sad cause my GR3 crapped out and wont show any radar data. I ran a scan on my computer and it turned out trojans were to blame.38 were found and now i gotta reinstall it from the site. I just hope my code will work....
Jon
Aaww dammit! I missed out on all the tornadic fun! :( Oh well, next time. I did have a nice flare reach over town while I was out playing paintball... cut down on sun, and HEAT!!
Man, I got owned today! Welts on my ribs... and leg...
OOPS - nevermind! I was stuck on an earlier scan! DUH
"cell east of Stephen"
Uploaded my pics of the evening including the funnel cloud northwest of Steinbach!
Tonight was a nice night.. REALLY enjoyed the storm geometry.
*reminder to self: always hit the "Latest Volume Scan" button after playing a loop
Just got back from a little drive to a town called Hadashville. (anyone from Manitoba will know)
INSANE!!!!! Best lightning ever! Best wall cloud ever!
I will upload a vid in the morning when I get back to my cables.
BTW first real storm chase for me. I'm now officially a junkie!
Welcome to the club Strike ahahah. I went south due to gas restraints but I'm glad you saw something!
Nice Strike! Love to see the vid!
Was there any confirmed damage with tonight's storms?
A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1045 PM CDT FOR SOUTHERN
GRAND FORKS AND CENTRAL POLK COUNTIES...
AT 1015 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE TORNADO WAS LOCATED
NEAR ELDRED...OR 22 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GRAND FORKS...MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 30 MPH.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE ABOUT...
5 MILES SOUTH OF CROOKSTON BY 1025 PM CDT...
HAROLD BY 1035 PM CDT...
10 MILES SOUTH OF GENTILLY BY 1040 PM CDT...
THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS TO 80 MPH IN CROOKSTON.
ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS LOCATED 5 MILES WEST OF NORTHWOOD.
THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
TORNADO AT ANY TIME.
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1007 PM CDT SUN AUG 26 2007
MNC089-270400-
/O.CON.KFGF.TO.W.0042.000000T0000Z-070827T0400Z/
MARSHALL MN-
1007 PM CDT SUN AUG 26 2007
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR
NORTHEASTERN MARSHALL COUNTY...
AT 1007 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE TORNADO WAS LOCATED
7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MIDDLE RIVER...OR 19 MILES NORTH OF THIEF RIVER
FALLS...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH. WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A
FUNNEL CLOUD WITH THIS STORM 1 MILE SOUTHEAST OF NEWFOLDEN AT 955 PM
CDT.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
GATZKE BY 1020 PM CDT...
Cool Tim and Strike!
Did ya see any rotation in the storm strike? Sounds pretty cool.
Tim...you said you were NW Steinbach.....anywhere near Lorette? If so, then that's the storm I saw from my house in SE Winnipeg. It looked like amazing structure.
Now I really can't wait until I get a drivers license and learn to chase.....I say learn as in hopefully findin someplace where ya can get a class on how to safely. Well....hopefully nobody was hurt in Northfield, and ya.
Jon
WFUS53 KFGF 270317
TORFGF
NDC091-270415-
/O.NEW.KFGF.TO.W.0043.070827T0317Z-070827T0415Z/
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
1017 PM CDT SUN AUG 26 2007
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAND FORKS HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
NORTHEASTERN STEELE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA...
* UNTIL 1115 PM CDT
* AT 1013 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF NORTHWOOD...OR 32 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GRAND FORKS...
MOVING TO THE SOUTH AT 15 MPH.
* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
GOLDEN LAKE AT 1105 PM CDT...
I think Caleb is going to kill me.
Whoa! Pics and videos anyone? lol
Tim: I stopped at the Steinbach exit on #1 just past the bridge and got a pic of a couple of funnels rotating around each other in a farmers field and at Richer I got a short vid of what I think was a rain wrapped funnel!
I drive an 01 Suburban and probably blew $40 worth of gas tonight. TOTALLY worth it!
TWO ONE HUNDRED FOOT POLE BARNS WERE DESTROYED 8 MILES NORTH OF CROOKSTON
AT 1010 PM CDT.
How is it they can disseminate that info within 4 minutes?... man I love your NWS
AJ, posted a link in my tag above to some pics & a vid.
Yeah I stayed west of 75 Strike. I agree it's worth it but I can't afford it haha.
Looking forward to your video!
the logan county cell id say is pretty much done...the greatest shear must obviously be further north...!? its unreal these cells are staying tornado warned for this long!
There was 4.25" hail reported from the Napoleon (Logan Co.) ND storm! 8-O
Congratulations Tim!
Ya got one!
Strike, I totally commiserate with you on gas. Emptying my wallet is happening more often these days!
4.25"? Whoa. No corepunching for me in that case... lol
Oh yeah, I forgot to say (a LONG time ago) NICE photos, Tim! :-)
btw, Awesome pics Tim!
The Area The storms are heading into is a ll Indian reservation! Very wooded! I can't wait to check out the damage!
I didn't mean to imply that I want to see the res get leveled!
We know what you mean Brady:) No biggie.
I'm out, I'm tired. Keep watchin this thing, it looks eevviill. lol
G'nite!
Gnite AJ!! I'm prob gonna catch a lil rest while i can here!
4.25" hail.. Quick what is that in the Pea, Quarter/Loonie, Baseball system?!
Hmm... Softball?
Great shots Tim!!
Did you follow the storm eastward at all? Or was that the storm that moved southeastward into northwest MN.
Looking forward to the video Strike!
Hopefully some pictures of the ND tornadoes will surface soon.
All you people that have actually done this chasing thing.... I get it now!
My business is building fast cars. I race fast cars. I think that chasing a kick ass storm like that is right up there in adrenaline rushes.
Now I just need to build a fast storm chasing car!
Seriously... I think I really need to build a car (or truck) now. I'm open for design suggestions.
I wanna start a corepuching league!!
who wants to join my team?
Great pics Tim!
Thanks for sharing
I BELIEVE that was the storm that pushed up north of the border from North Dakota. I say believe because I was tracking about 3 different cells visually that all ended up topping well over 50k feet. It was an amazing night.. I could have picked any of the three storms and gotten a nice chase.
I followed that particular cell about 3 hours, it really was amazing watching the sheer power of the towers just force out. It moved at a great pace though, even was able to watch the storm east of Winnipeg and the two south and southeast merge into a squall line. I probably have a pic of that somewhere.. I'll look for it later.
All in all a great way to end out the season. I suspect this will probably be my last chase of the 07 season though I'll definitely keep active here and take some nice blizzard or snow-thunderstorm pics if we get them.
Brady, count me in!!!
That cell in Red Lake county is bowing out and packing monster winds!
Well i'm off to bed, first day of school tomorrow. Band at 7 AM. Band sucks.
Night yall
Strike,
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.10/tornado_pr.html
Good luck & Godspeed!
Tim – great pictures!
Joe you were asking about splits...
I have no idea WHY a storm splits.
I do know the left split is usually an anticyclonic storm. NO idea WHY.
And I believe the right split/right mover is usually the strongest storm.
You could see 2 classic examples of this in the radar loop I posted the other night. (the Dante, SD storm). I put it under my name if you want to see it again. As DickM said, it would be something amazingly COOL to watch live and in color.
Sorry, forgot to add,
Tim, you rock. Great chase pictures. Well done I am jealous.
Is it South Dakota tomorrow? cape looks strong.
And... I have no idea why that link under my name didn't work but, it doesn't. Oh well.
Andrew I'm guessing you left off a single digit at the end of the URL 'cause it looks like a date trying to be there... 2007082_?
Andrew- check that. It wasn't your fault. The name field only allows URLs of 100 characters max, and your URL was probably 101!
WDAZ-TV reports great devastation in the town of Northwood, North Dakota. Several mobile homes were completely destroyed. The top was blown off the grain elevator. Power lines and trees are down all over. There are reports of injuries. Rain, hail and strong winds continued to hit the area as rescue efforts were under way.
I've lived in the Dakotas my entire life and I've never seen lightning like I've seen tonight. The sustained intensity was amazing.
That's too bad PCM. Always hate ending out a good chase night with reports of towns getting wiped off the map. Northwood is south-east of Grand Forks?
The lightning was really intense even from my vantage point which was, sadly, far from where I would have been had I had unlimited gas haha
i hope some structure shots of these supercells show up somewhere...they looked absolutley amazing on radar.
Heidi,
Reed's storm was not part of the Greensburg cell. There were three initial cells, that we watched go up near the KS/OK border, (possibly initiated in the Northern TX Panhandle). It's hard to say, but Greensburg might not have happened if the Woodward storm's outflow had not been pushed north (the cap was pretty stout). Anyways, we were following the 3 cells initially, the bottom two looked "ok" so we trailed the northern one which had a beautiful stacked plates appearance, and was an LP. It would race off to the north and never amount to much. We could hardly keep up, and about the time we were 5 m north of Coldwater, the "Greensburg" storm went tornado warned.
Anyways, click on my name for a pic of the northern LP and here is a great analysis of the Greensburg event, for those who haven't seen it. I still would trade what I saw that day with Reed, that tornado was just beautiful, and they were freaking close!
http://members.cox.net/jondavies6/050407greensburg/050407greensburg.htm
Storm splitting is associated with dynamics internal to the supercell, as well as its interaction with storm relative flow.
The thunderstorm updraft acts as an obstacle embedded in a fluid flow (the surrounding environment), and thus two oppositely rotating wake eddies are formed just downstream and on either side of the thunderstorm updraft. One cyclonic vortiex (right and downstream), and one anticyclonic vortex (left and downstream). A negative pressure perturbation is associated with both of these vortices, independent of their rotation direction...and these negative perturbations result in a pressure gradient force (from high to low pressure) that acts outward on either side of the thunderstorm updraft. This causes the updraft to be "ripped" into two separate updrafts, one with a cyclonic mesocyclone and the other with an anti-cyclonic mesocyclone. The same outward directed pressure gradient force causes the left split to propagate further left, and the right split to propagate right. Since the typical orientation of vertical wind shear favors a cyclonic mesocyclone, the right split is dominant.
Another factor that plays a role is associated with the vertical tilting of vortex tubes, with the result being a two vertical vortices with opposing rotation...This acts in tandem with the above wake vortices.
We've witnessed supercell splits several times in the field, and tornadogenesis often follows a storm split given sufficient low-level shear. However, I've seen supercells that have no apparent split that produce a tornado as well (sometimes the left splits are so small they can't be seen on radar or even visually-if on the other side of the storm).
The splitting process can be explained with partial differential equations for simplified flows, but I'd have to consult my textbooks to refresh...I'll try and find some resources and post them to the blog that provides a better explanation.
Thanks the Greensburg explanation dick...you are an expert on that day!
Is Darin still working on that chapter for Storms of 2007? If so I need to send him our footage stat.
http://tinyurl.com/3xg3hf
Ok Joe, try that. Hope it works.
Sure hope everyone up in the Grand Forks area is OK tonight. I cringe when I hear "mobile home" and "tornado" in the same sentence.
PCM keep us updated.
DickM- great shelf by the way, that had to be one of the best I have seen all year.
Weren't you chasing the other night when the storm went nuts in Dante? For some reason I thought the shelf pics you got were from that night... maybe I'm confused...
Anyhoo, we all got a crash course in Classic Supercell 101 (on radar at least) that night.
http://www.axisofnature.com/WordPress/index.php
Here is Scott Olson's excellent analysis of the day too.
Reed, yeah he has already put together an intro that is epic.!
I'm no expert on that day! Jon and Scott have analyzed it way more than I have.
Tim, Northwood is about 35 miles southwest of Grand Forks. Local TV says no school in Northwood tomorrow because the town took a direct hit from a tornado. :-(
0852 PM TORNADO NORTHWOOD 47.74N 97.57W
08/26/2007 GRAND FORKS ND LAW ENFORCEMENT
BETWEEN 850 PM AND 852 PM TORNADO STRUCK THE CITY OF NORTHWOOD. DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED.
There's the NWS LSR for the northwood tornado
Joe: Not sure if there was supposed to be a moral to that story or not.
In my mind I was running up a list of things I would do and now I don't have to. Ha!
Reed,
Nice explanation! Now I need to re-read it about 10 times to grasp half of it... lol just kidding. Thanks for taking the time to explain that.
I took my camera out tonight to try to get some pictures. Unfortunately, the storms blotted out the sun and there wasn't enough light to get anything decent. The lightning was spectacular, however.
Local TV reports numerous injuries in Northwood with people being transported to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks. No reports of fatalies so far.
That's good to hear.
Never realized that Reed. I just assumed it was something with moisture barriers or low level winds or something. Very cool!
No kidding Andrew! I've always wondered why a storm splits, Reed definitely knows his stuff. I wonder why the left split on Feb 23 in the TX panhandle produced, and the right didn't.
Dick thank you. That analysis you posted was so understandable even to a guy like me.
I think you are right Tim when you said that this was probably our last chance this year for real violent storms here in Manitoba.
However, since I think I have a new hobby, I really should plan on upgrading the equipment for next year.
I'm not going to crash through any tornadoes in some crazy farm truck, but I think a good video camera would be a good start. And it never hurts to have some serious power under the hood to get away from things fast.
Any reasonable advice would be cool.
The Grand Forks Herald is reporting at least one fatality from the Northwood tornado.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=48299§ion=News
That's sad. Yet another trailerpark. Someone needs to get these guys weather radios! You should abandon them any time there is some sort of severe warning, whether a tornado or just wind.
#@$#!!
Did not want to hear that! That article says a couple trailer parks were wiped out. Definitely not good.
@ Dick: aha, now I finally know why you picked "stacked plates" as your blog name!
@ Reed: So, I think I got the general picture thanks to you, the updraft essentially splits the cell and physics takes over, causing them to move apart. You know those basic diagrams for newbies that show the updraft pushing the horizontal "rolled tube" of air upwards until it becomes a vertical mesocyclone that spins counterclockwise? I always wondered where the other half went (the left half) and I think you just explained it if I'm not mistaken.
@ Andrew: thanks!
Dick, there's a bill pending in Washington somewhere, we talked about it here a couple months ago... a senator or something from Indiana (or somewhere) is trying to create legislation to force all mobile homes built going forward to include weather radios, just like smoke detectors.
http://tinyurl.com/34klgm
Tonight's radar loop, the end image is from about the time the tornado hit Northwood. If you watch closely you can see small splits flying off just about all of the storms in North Dakota.
Well.. from personal experience you definitely want some sort of weather radio Strike.
I just use a radioshack/The Source scanner and have the various weather radio freqs plugged into them (162.550MHz for Winnipeg - 5 others in total). That'll make sure you get that Tornado Warning despite being parked on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.
Good camera/video camera.
Map. Unless you know those tiny roads like the back of your hand.
GPS if you can afford it.
Cell Phone - With the #HAIL (or 1-800-293-0484) Environment Canada Severe WX reporting number in the contacts. (I'd also recommend some of the local police numbers just so you can give them a non-911 dispatcher filtered report if you see something)
If you've got cash go with mobile internet and a laptop. I'm working with just the laptop sans Mobile net but I'd love up to date radar data in the field. It's pretty much the best way to get yourself in position without getting killed.
I'm sure others here would offer other suggestions.
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US just instituted a law a few months back requiring all new mobile homes to have WX Radio installed.. They might want to think about giving them out to people or something too.
definetly a tragic situation in northwood...as a storm enthusiest you want to see a beautiful storm like that, but OBVIOUSLY without it injuring and causing destruction and fatalities. i guess thats how it rolls sometimes.
im sure we'll see $hitty photos of the wreckage tomorrow.
bummer