Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 13, NWS Aberdeen, SD
NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 5:40 PM CDT for Brown County, South Dakota. It was in force for 45 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, 5:40 PM CDT (22:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1996, 6:25 PM CDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Aberdeen, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
County Brown County, SD
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 16 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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, 5:40 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Aberdeen, SD | |
| May 31, 5:52 PM CDT | Tornado F3 | Aberdeen, SD | |
| May 31, 6:05 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Aberdeen, SD | |
| May 31, 6:21 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Putney, 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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 77 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 312240 TORABR SDC013-312325- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 540 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 625 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ...BROWN COUNTY AT 537 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS 2 MILES SOUTH OF ABERDEEN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES MOST THREATENED BY THIS TORNADO... ABERDEEN AROUND 545 PM CDT BATH AROUND 600 PM CDT PUTNEY AROUND 609 PM CDT TACOMA PARK AROUND 616 PM CDT COLUMBIA AROUND 616 PM CDT THE IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. NUMEROUS TORNADO REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. PLEASE...PLEASE TAKE COVER NOW. DO NOT GO OUTSIDE. TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE. 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... PILLOVWS OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. & BUCKLEW/GS
The 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, 5:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Brown, Edmunds, McPherson | 32 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.