Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 19, 1987Corson County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 19, 1987, 9:54 PM MDT for Corson County, South Dakota. It was in force for 36 min. 1 report 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 19, 1987, 9:54 PM MDT (03:54 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1987, 10:30 PM MDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Corson 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 19, 10:13 PM MDTHail 1.75Corson, 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

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 124 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 1987-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 90 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 1987-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
90 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1852 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABR 200354
TORABR
SDC031-200430-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
954 PM MDT SUN JUL 19 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...NORTHEAST CORSON

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE ADJACENT WATERS OF THE MISSOURI RIVER.

SOME OF THE CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE  WALKER MC LAUGHLIN
MAHTO KENEL.

AT 950 PM MDT  RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO  NORTH OF WALKER
...40 MILES NORTHWEST OF MOBRIDGE SOUTH DAKOTA. MOVING SOUTHEAST
AT 20 MPH. A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM 10 MILES
NORTH AND 10 MILES EAST OF MC INTOSH AS IT PASSED.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...YOU SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT
SHELTER IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR
A REINFORCED BUILDING.

HUSTON

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 19, 9:35 PM MDT, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
934 PM CDT SUN JUL 19 1987

AT 930 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM 35 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF ABERDEEN...NEAR CONDE IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. THIS IS A NEW STORM
THAT HAS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 5 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE
WEATHER DEVELOPMENT AND TAKE SHELTER IF NECESSARY.
HUSTON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 8:33 PM MDTTornado WarningABRCorson27 min
Jul 19, 10:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown, Day, Spink59 min
Jul 19, 10:13 PM MDTTornado WarningABRCorson32 min
Jul 19, 10:58 PM MDTTornado WarningABRCorson32 min
Jul 19, 11:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown62 min
Jul 19, 11:37 PM MDTTornado WarningABRCorson38 min
Jul 19, 11:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSpink38 min
Jul 20, 12:08 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell67 min
Jul 20, 12:21 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRJones34 min
Jul 20, 12:21 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRHughes, Lyman, Stanley69 min
Jul 20, 12:35 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown, McPherson55 min
Jul 20, 1:31 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown59 min
Jul 20, 2:03 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay, Marshall57 min
Jul 20, 6:52 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall, Roberts48 min
Jul 20, 4:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRClark61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.