Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Aberdeen, SD

September 15, 1994Edmunds County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Sep 15, 1994, 5:14 PM CDT for Edmunds County, South Dakota. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 15, 1994, 5:14 PM CDT (22:14 UTC)
Expired
Sep 15, 1994, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Edmunds County, SD

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KHON), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 1994-09-15Temperature 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 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 1994-09-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -175 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1319 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-42 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 152215
TORABR
SDC045-152300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
514 PM CDT THU SEP 15 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES.......
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA
 
   ...EASTERN EDMUNDS COUNTY
 
AT 511 PM A TORNADO WAS SIGHTED JUST NORTH OF LOYALTON IN SOUTH CENTRAL
EDMUNDS COUNTY...40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ABERDEEN. THE TORNADO
WAS MOVING EAST TO NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS TORNADO WILL AFFECT AREAS BETWEEN MINA AND LOYALTON BETWEEN 515
AND 545 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A W|ORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF
NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH
AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR
CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

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, Sep 15, 4:38 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
SDZ003>005-009-010-015>017-152340-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
438 PM CDT (338 PM MDT) THU SEP 15 1994

...FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED NORTH OF GETTYSBURG AIRPORT...

AT 425 PM THE POTTER COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED A FUNNEL JUST
NORTH OF THE GETTYSBURG AIRPORT.  THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS MOVING EAST AT
25 MPH.  PERSONS IN EASTERN POTTER COUNTY...INCLUDING THE COMMUNITY OF
LEBANON SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS SITUATION AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE
ACTION IF A TORNADO IS SPOTTED.

AT 430 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN A LINE
FROM SOUTHWEST EDMUNDS COUNTY 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF GETTYSBURG TO
SOUTHWEST POTTER COUNTY...15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GETTYSBURG.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

REITER
Special weather statement, Sep 15, 5:05 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
SDZ004>011-016>018-152310-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN    SD
505 PM CDT THU SEP 15 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHCENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...

AT 455 PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED ACROSS NORTHCENTRAL
SOUTH DAKOTA.  THIS LINE EXTENDED FROM LEOLA IN EASTERN MCPHERSON
COUNTY THROUGH CENTRAL EDMUNDS COUNTY AND INTO EASTERN POTTER COUNTY.
THIS LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHWESTERN BROWN...EASTERN
EDMUNDS...NORTHWESTERN FAULK AND SOUTHEASTERN POTTER COUNTIES THROUGH
6 PM.

THESE STORMS PRODUCED PEA SIZE HAIL IN ROSCOE EARLIER.  WIND GUST
TO 35 MILES AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING STRIKES AND BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN.

IF YOU LIVE IN BROWN...FAULK...AND SPINK COUNTIES BE PREPARED FOR
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS BETWEEN 530 AND 630 PM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 14, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSully44 min
Sep 15, 2:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBeadle30 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.