Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Aberdeen, SD
NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 2:45 PM MDT for Dewey County, South Dakota. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 31, 1996, 2:45 PM MDT (20:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1996, 3:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Aberdeen, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
County Dewey County, SD
The radar
The Bismarck radar (KBIS), 180 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:48 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The nearest sounding before it
Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 184 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 574 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 205 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KABR 312045 TORABR SDC041-312130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 345 PM CDT (245 PM MDT) FRI MAY 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM MDT (430 PM CDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA ...CENTRAL AND EASTERN DEWEY COUNTY AT 241 PM MDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS 28 MILES NORTHEAST OF DUPREE OR 21 MILES WEST OF LA PLANT MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES MOST THREATENED BY THIS TORNADO... WHITEHORSE AROUND 255 PM MDT LA PLANT AROUND 305 PM MDT RIDGEVIEW COULD BE AFFECTED BY THE THUNDERSTORM. 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 NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OF LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. 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, May 31, 9:47 AM MDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SDZ003>011-015>023-033>037-045-048-051-MNZ039-046-011200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 1045 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE TODAY AND THIS EVENING... A COLD FRONT IN THE WESTERN DAKOTAS WILL DRIFT EAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT IN CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON... AND MOVE INTO EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA THIS EVENING. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE BY LATE AFTERNOON...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS SHOULD END OVERNIGHT AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES EAST INTO MINNESOTA. 6 EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE SKYWARN ACTIVATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MIDDLEBROOKE
Special weather statement, May 31, 2:13 PM MDT, 32 minutes before
SDZ003>005-009-010-015>017-033>036-010215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 313 PM CDT (213 PM MDT) FRI MAY 31 1996 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT (8 PM MDT)... IN NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...THE WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF CAMPBELL...CORSON...DEWEY...EDMUNDS...FAULK...MCPHERSON...POTTER... AND WALWORTH. IN CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA THE AFFECTED COUNTIES INCLUDE HUGHES...HYDE...STANLEY AND SULLY. COMMUNITIES IN THE WATCH INCLUDE TIMBER LAKE...MCINTOSH... MOBRIDGE...PIERRE...GETTYSBURG...IPSWICH...LEOLA AND FAULKTON. A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. BE ON THE ALBERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER...AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. MIDDLEBROOKE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Aberdeen, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 2:02 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Dewey | 43 min |
| May 31, 2:33 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | McPherson | 47 min |
| May 31, 2:57 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Corson | 48 min |
| May 31, 3:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Campbell | 64 min |
| May 31, 3:25 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Edmunds | 50 min |
| May 31, 3:40 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Brown | 45 min |
| May 31, 3:59 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | McPherson | 46 min |
| May 31, 4:08 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Brown, Edmunds, McPherson | 32 min |
| May 31, 4:40 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Brown | 45 min |
| May 31, 5:08 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Edmunds, McPherson | 32 min |
| May 31, 5:17 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Marshall | 63 min |
| May 31, 5:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Brown | 65 min |
| May 31, 5:36 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Brown | 49 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.