Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 13, 1994Spink County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1994, 4:14 PM CDT for Spink County, South Dakota. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 13, 1994, 4:14 PM CDT (21:14 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1994, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Spink County, SD

The nearest sounding before it

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 273 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 1994-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 85 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, Bismarck Municip, ND at 12:00Z on 1994-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
85 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
786 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABR 132115
TORABR
SDC115-132200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
414 PM CDT WED JUL 13 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES.......
 
IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA
 
   ...NORTHERN SPINK COUNTY
 
AT 405 PM CDT SPINK COUNTY OFFICIALS HAVE REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ON
THE GROUND LESS THAN 5 MILES WEST OF ASHTON. ALSO SEVERAL REPORTS OF
FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN RECIEVED WEST OF NORTHVILLE. THE MOVEMENT OF THE
POSSIBLE TONRADO HAS BEEN TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 10 MILES PER HOUR. THE
CITIES OF ASHTON...MELLETTE AND BRENTFORD ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOULD TAKE ACTION NOW.
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEAR^BY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
BUCKLEW
 
 
&

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 13, 1:09 PM CDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
SDZ007-008-011-132015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
108 PM CDT WED JUL 13 1994

...HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL EXPECTED OVER FAR NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...

AT 1 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND SOME PEA SIZED HAIL WERE
IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA FROM 40 MILES EAST OF ABERDEEN NEAR ROSLYN TO
NEAR SISSETON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR
AND MAY PRODUCE ENOUGH HEAVY RAIN TO CAUSE STREET FLOODING AND REDUCED
VISIBILITIES.

RESIDENTS IN FAR NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA CAN EXPECT THESE THUNDERSTORMS
TO AFFECT THEIR AREA UNTIL ABOUT 4 PM AND THEN MOVE INTO WESTERN MINNESOTA.
SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS AS W,ELL AS
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. RESIDENTS SHOULD MOVE INDOORS AS THE STORMS APPROACH
AND REMAIN THERE UNTIL THE STORMS PASS.

GILLESPIE
Special weather statement, Jul 13, 2:08 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SDZ005>008-010-011-017-018-132015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
208 PM CDT WED JUL 13 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...

AT 2 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS
TO NEAR 45 MILES AN HOUR WERE IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED NEAR WEBSTER...30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SISSETON. ANOTHER STRONG
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TOWARD TULARE AND REDFIELD FROM NORTHERN HAND COUNTY.
A STATE TROOPER IN HAND COUNTY 14 MILES NORTH OF MILLER HAD TO STOP DRIVING
DUE TO NO VISIBILITY IN HEAVY RAIN. OTHERWISE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDER/
STROMS WERE OVER NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

RESIDENTS IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA CAN EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON.
SOME WILL CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. AS THESE STORMS
MOVE INTO YOUR AREA MOVE INSIDE AND WAIT UNTIL THE STORMS PASS.

GILLESPIE
Special weather statement, Jul 13, 2:09 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
SDZ005>008-010-011-017-018-132015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
208 PM CDT WED JUL 13 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...

AT 2 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS
TO NEAR 45 MILES AN HOUR WERE IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED NEAR WEBSTER...30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SISSETON. ANOTHER STRONG
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TOWARD TULARE AND REDFIELD FROM NORTHERN HAND COUNTY.
A STATE TROOPER IN HAND COUNTY 14 MILES NORTH OF MILLER HAD TO STOP DRIVING
DUE TO NO VISIBILITY IN HEAVY RAIN. OTHERWISE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDER/
STROMS WERE OVER NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

RESIDENTS IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA CAN EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON.
SOME WILL CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. AS THESE STORMS
MOVE INTO YOUR AREA MOVE INSIDE AND WAIT UNTIL THE STORMS PASS.

GILLESPIE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRHand42 min
Jul 12, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRHyde27 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.