Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 6, 1994Dewey County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 6, 1994, 4:45 PM MDT for Dewey County, South Dakota. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 6, 1994, 4:45 PM MDT (22:45 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 1994, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Dewey County, SD

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 12:00Z on 1994-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1994-07-06The 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1290 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 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 062247
TORABR
SDC041-062315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
545 PM CDT (445 PM MDT) WED JUL 6 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT (515 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES.......
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA
 
   ...CENTRAL DEWEY COUNTY
 
AT 435 PM CDT...A WEATHER SERVICE SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES
NORTH OF EAGLE BUTTE OR 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF DUPREE.  THE TORNADO WAS
MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
REITER

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 6, 3:27 PM MDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
SDZ003-004-009-015-016-062230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
425 PM CDT (325 PM MDT) WED JUL 6 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING TOWARDS CORSON AND DEWEY COUNTIES...

...AT 325 MDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN ZEIBACH COUNTY 5 MILES WEST OF DUPREE.  THE
STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE NORTHWEST
PORTION OF DEWEY COUNTY INCLUDING ISABEL WHICH IS 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF
DUPREE BY 400 PM MDT.

THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS ALREADY PRODUCED 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH HAIL ALONG
WITH WINDS OF 60 MPH...BUT THE STORM WAS SHOWING SOME SIGNS OF
WEAKENING.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...MOVE TO A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  AVOID USING ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
OR THE TELEPHONE UNLESS YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY.

REITER
Special weather statement, Jul 6, 3:27 PM MDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
SDZ003-004-009-015-016-062230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
425 PM CDT (325 PM MDT) WED JUL 6 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING TOWARDS CORSON AND DEWEY COUNTIES...

...AT 325 MDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN ZEIBACH COUNTY 5 MILES WEST OF DUPREE.  THE
STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE NORTHWEST
PORTION OF DEWEY COUNTY INCLUDING ISABEL WHICH IS 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF
DUPREE BY 400 PM MDT.

THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS ALREADY PRODUCED 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH HAIL ALONG
WITH WINDS OF 60 MPH...BUT THE STORM WAS SHOWING SOME SIGNS OF
WEAKENING.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...MOVE TO A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  AVOID USING ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
OR THE TELEPHONE UNLESS YOU HAVE AN EMERGENCY.

REITER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 4:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDewey58 min
Jul 6, 5:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDewey, Walworth56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.