Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Aberdeen, SD
NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 5:08 PM CDT for Brown County, Edmunds County, McPherson County, South Dakota. It was in force for 32 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 31, 1996, 5:08 PM CDT (22:08 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1996, 5:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Aberdeen, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Brown County, SD, Edmunds County, SD, McPherson County, SD
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:10 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 5:12 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Craven, SD | |
| May 31, 5:25 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Aberdeen, SD | |
| May 31, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Aberdeen, SD | |
| May 31, 5:40 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Aberdeen, SD |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 87 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 559 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KABR 312207 TORABR SDC013-045-089-312240- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 508 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 540 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ...BROWN COUNTY ...EASTERN EDMUNDS COUNTY ...EASTERN MCPHERSON COUNTY THE TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THE TORANDO ARE FREDRICK...ABERDEEN... BARNARD...HECLA...ORDWAY TWO TORNADOS WILL BE MOVING INTO BARNARD...ABERDEEN AND WARNER. AT 458 PM...RADAR INDICATED 2 TORNADOES...ONE...20 MILES NORTHWEST OF ABERDEEN....JUST SOUTHEAST OF LEOLA. ANOTHER WAS LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ABERDEEN...JUST SOUTH OF MINA. THESE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. TAKE COVER NOW. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH 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. BUCKLEW/HG
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, 3:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 55 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
Local storm report, May 31, 3:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SOUTH DAKOTA
352 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
@
0315 PM S ISABEL SD .88 INCH HAIL
05/31/96 DEWEY SPOTTER REPORT FROM
SHERIFF DEPT.
BUCKLEWThe office that day
Everything else NWS Aberdeen, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 3:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Dewey | 43 min |
| May 31, 3:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | McPherson | 47 min |
| May 31, 3:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Dewey | 45 min |
| May 31, 3:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Corson | 48 min |
| May 31, 4:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Campbell | 64 min |
| May 31, 4:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Edmunds | 50 min |
| May 31, 4:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Brown | 45 min |
| May 31, 4:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | McPherson | 46 min |
| May 31, 5:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Brown | 45 min |
| May 31, 6:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Edmunds, McPherson | 32 min |
| May 31, 6:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Marshall | 63 min |
| May 31, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Brown | 65 min |
| May 31, 6:36 PM CDT | 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.