Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 17, 1986Brown County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 1986, 5:53 PM CDT for Brown County, South Dakota. It was in force for 37 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 17, 1986, 5:53 PM CDT (22:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1986, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Brown County, SD

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 17, 5:53 PM CDTTornado F0Brown, SD
Jul 17, 6:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Brown, SD

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 77 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1986-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 239 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1986-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
239 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-549 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1810 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KABR 172258 RRA
TORABR
SDC013-172330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING.........CORRECTED FOR TIME OF FUNNEL CLOUD....
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
553 PM CDT THU JUL 17 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...NORTHERN BROWN

SOME OF THE CITIES INCLUDED IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ARE FREDRICK
..BARNARD..HECLA..HOUGHTON..ORDWAY

AT 550 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY AN OBSERVER ABOUT
 10 MILES NORTH OF ABERDEEN. WHICH DIPPED DOWN AND WENT BACK UP.
THE STORM ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FUNNEL WAS MOVING EAST NORTEAST AT 20 MPH.

IF YOU A.RE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...YOU SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT
SHELTER IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
A REINFORCED BUILDING.

KEEFE

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 17, 12:10 PM CDT, 5 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
1205 CDT THU JUL 17 1986

AT 1205 CDT INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING
THROUGH BROWN COUNTY OF NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. WIND GUSTS AROUND
40 MPH AND PEA SIZED HAIL ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED
BY A DEPUTY SHERIFF 10 MILES SOUTH OF THE ABERDEEN AIRPORT.
THESE THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST
INTO DAY AND MARSHALL COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD STAY ON THE ALERT
FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS FOR
THE LATEST INFORMATION CONCERNING THESE THUNDERSTORMS.
MCLAUGHLIN
Special weather statement, Jul 17, 5:36 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
537 PM CDT THU JUL 17 1986

....THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN NORTH EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA....

AT 535 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN HAD FORMED IN NORTHERN BROWN COUNTY NEAR FREDRICK...25 MILES NORTH
OF ABERDEEN. IT WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THERE ARE NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH THIS STORM..HOWEVER IF YOU
LIVE IN NORTHERN BROWN COUNTY YOU SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS UNTIL ABOUT 630 PM WHEN THIS STORM SHOULD BE PASSED.

KEEFE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Aberdeen, SD issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSanborn61 min
Jul 17, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningABRBrown25 min
Jul 17, 6:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.