Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 28, 1988Hand County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1988, 6:55 PM CDT for Hand County, South Dakota. It was in force for 35 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 28, 1988, 6:55 PM CDT (23:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1988, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Hand 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 28, 7:15 PM CDTHail 1.75Hand, 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, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 62 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 1988-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 107 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 1988-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 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
107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-556 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1755 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 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 KHON 282355
TORHON
SDC059-290030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HURON SD
655 PM CDT THU JUL 28 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE CENTRAL PART OF SOUTH DAKOTA
      HAND

SOME OF THE CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE MILLER AND
ST. LAWRENCE.

AT 546 PM CDT  RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF
MILLER...30 MILES WEST OF HURON.

 AT 542 PM CDT THE SHERIFF OF HAND COUNTY REPORTED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF MILLER.

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.

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 28, 6:48 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
645 PM CDT THU JUL 28 1988

...VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SPINK COUNTY...

AT 645 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN TULARE
AND REDFIELD MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

RESIDENTS IN REDFIELD...TULARE AND FRANKFORT CAN EXPECT PERIODS OF BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL AS THESE
THUNDERSTORMS PASS. RESIDENT SHOULD 0REMAIN ALERT AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN BECOME SEVERE WITH LITTLE WARNING.
 GILLESPIE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSpink56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988

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.