Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Aberdeen, SD

August 15, 1987Brown County, Spink County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1987, 3:34 PM CDT for Brown County, Spink County, South Dakota. It was in force for 26 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
Aug 15, 1987, 3:34 PM CDT (20:34 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1987, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brown County, SD, Spink 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
Aug 15, 4:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Brown, 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, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 1987-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1389 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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1987-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 94 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
1389 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-261 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1459 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABR 152034
TORABR
SDC013-115-152100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
334 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...SOUTH AND CENTRAL BROWN AND NORTHERN SPINK

SOME OF THE CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE  ABERDEEN MELLETTE
WARNER GROTON COLUMBIA BATH STRATFORD FERNEY

AT 227 PM CDT   A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED  3 MILES SOUTH OF
MANSFIELD MOVING NE

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, Aug 15, 2:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
230 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

AT 220 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED
RAPIDLY 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ABERDEEN IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.
MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE OVER ABERDEEN
BY 300 PM.

THIS STORM CONTAINS VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

INDIVIDUALS IN BROWN COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER AND SEEK SHELTER IF NECESSARY.
HUSTON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown61 min
Aug 15, 3:05 PM CDTTornado WarningABRBrown, Spink25 min
Aug 15, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown, Spink69 min
Aug 15, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay, Marshall69 min
Aug 15, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRClark60 min
Aug 15, 6:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCodington, Hamlin57 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.