Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 10, 1987Mellette County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 10, 1987, 4:05 PM CDT for Mellette County, South Dakota. It was in force for 25 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 10, 1987, 4:05 PM CDT (21:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 10, 1987, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Mellette 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 10, 4:10 PM CDTTornado F0Mellette, SD
Jul 10, 4:26 PM CDTHail 2.5Mellette, 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

Rapid City, SD (KRAP), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 179 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 1987-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 136 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 1987-07-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 187 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
136 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-314 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1547 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
275 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 KFSD 102105 RRA
TORFSD
SDC095-102130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
405 PM CDT FRI JUL 10 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA
          ...NORTHERN MELLETTE
CITY POSSIBLY EFFECTED IS WHITE RIVER.
 
AT 403 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR CEDER BUTTE IN NORHTWEST
MELLETTE COUNTY IN SOUTHCENTRAL SOUTH DKAOTA. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO
THE EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SH ELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
KOSCIELSKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDAurora, Brule, Charles Mix54 min
Jul 9, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDGregory54 min
Jul 9, 8:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDAurora, Davison, Douglas53 min
Jul 9, 9:39 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDHutchinson, Turner36 min
Jul 9, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDTurner43 min
Jul 9, 10:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBrookings59 min
Jul 9, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDTurner27 min
Jul 9, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDClay, Lincoln52 min
Jul 10, 12:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDTodd, Tripp60 min
Jul 10, 2:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBon Homme, Charles Mix54 min
Jul 10, 6:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBon Homme, Charles Mix54 min
Jul 10, 3:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMellette64 min
Jul 10, 4:28 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDMellette32 min
Jul 10, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDTodd67 min
Jul 10, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMellette61 min
Jul 10, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDTodd, Tripp63 min
Jul 10, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDTodd, Tripp63 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.