Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

May 31, 1988Lincoln County, Turner County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1988, 5:07 PM CDT for Lincoln County, Turner County, South Dakota. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1988, 5:07 PM CDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1988, 5:35 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lincoln County, SD, Turner County, SD

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 213 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 1988-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 388 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 1988-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -31 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
388 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-135 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
882 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
17 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 KFSD 312208 RRA
TORFSD
SDC083-125-312245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
507 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA
          ...NORTHERN LINCOLN...NORTHEASTERN TURNER
 
AT 503 PM CDT THE SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 2
MILES EAST OF DAVIS SOUTH DAKOTA IN TURNER COUNTY.
 
CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE DAVIS...LENNOX...TEA...WORTHING...ANHARRISBURG.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. IF YOU ARE MCAUGHT
IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG
BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR
LOW SPOT.
 
ANDERSON/KAPELA

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, May 31, 4:13 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
410 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 1988

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...

AT 405 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS PASSING THROUGH WORTHINGTON
MINNESOTA...AND PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO AROUND 50 MPH AND
VERY HEAVY RAINS. SMALL HAIL WAS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM AS IT
MOVED NORTH AT 30 MPH.

SHOULD THIS STORM HOLD TOGETHER IT WILL PASS THROUGH THE FULDA TO
SLAYTON AREA BETWEEN 415 PM AND 515 PM CDT.
KAPELA
Special weather statement, May 31, 4:40 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
445 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 1988

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN LOCAL TRI STATE AREA...

AT 435 PM SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME INTENSE...WERE MOVING NORTH
ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST
MINNESOTA.. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING RAPIDLY AND HAVE
BEEN PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS...SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS.
A FEW STORMS HAVE PRODUCED RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF A HALF INCH IN A HALF
HOUR AND HAVE PRODUCED WIND GUSTS NEAR 55 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH.

THESE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL
BE MOVING THROUGH THE "LOCAL AREA THIS EVENING.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.
ANDERSON
Local storm report, May 31, 4:55 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
500 PM CDT TUE MAY 31 1988

STORM DATA FOR MAY 31 1988

 TIME            COUNTY..LOCATION           CHARACTER OF STORM..DAMAGE
.......................................................................

 400 PM CDT    NOBLES...(MINNESOTA)        TSTM WND...67 MPH REPORTED
               3W OTG                      BY RADIO STATION WITH
                                           CALIBRATED WIND INSTRUMENT
                                           ...SMALL HAIL (SIZE UNKNOWN)
                                           ... 1/2 INCH RAIN/1/2 HOUR

 430 PM CDT     MINNEHAHA...11 WSW         TSTM WND 35 MPH...1/4 INCH
                SIOUX FALL6S                DIAMETER HAIL.

 ANDERSON

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.