Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 20, NWS Aberdeen, SD
NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 9:36 PM CDT for Deuel County, South Dakota. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report 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, 9:36 PM CDT (02:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1996, 10:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Aberdeen, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
County Deuel County, SD
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:39 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, 9:51 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Altamont, 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 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 137 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
- 2345 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 770 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 257 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 340 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.5
- Supercell composite
- 16.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KABR 010235 TORABR SDC039-010310- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 936 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1010 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ...NORTHERN DEUEL COUNTY AT 934 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY ABERDEEN DOPPLER RADAR 17 MILES EAST OF WATERTOWN OR 5 MILES WEST OF ALTAMONT MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES MOST THREATENED BY THIS TORNADO... ALTAMONT AROUND 943 PM CDT TUNERVILLE AROUND 947 PM CDT MORITZ AROUND 953 PM CDT 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/GS
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
Local storm report, May 31, 3:52 PM CDT, 5 hours 44 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.
BUCKLEWSpecial weather statement, May 31, 8:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SDZ003>006-009-010-015>018-033>036-010320- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 815 PM CDT (715 PM MDT) FRI MAY 31 1996 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA HAS EXPIRED... ...TORNADO WATCH FOR BROWN AND SPINK COUNTIES HAS BEEN CANCELLED... ALL THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES IN SOUTH DAKOTA HAVE MOVED TO THE EAST OF BROWN AND SPINK COUNTIES...INTO FAR NORTHEASTERN AND EASTERN SOUTH DAKOTAB. SEVERE WEATHER IS NO LONGER A THREAT FROM BROWN AND SPINK COUNTIES WEST INTO CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...AND TORNADO WATCHES FOR THESE AREAS ARE NO LONGER IN EFFECT. MIDDLEBROOKE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Aberdeen, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 7:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Marshall | 32 min |
| May 31, 7:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Codington, Grant | 55 min |
| May 31, 7:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Roberts | 55 min |
| May 31, 7:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Grant, Roberts | 47 min |
| May 31, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Clark | 32 min |
| May 31, 8:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Clark, Codington, Deuel, Hamlin | 61 min |
| May 31, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Roberts | 64 min |
| May 31, 9:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Deuel | 46 min |
| May 31, 9:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Grant | 29 min |
| May 31, 9:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Grant | 33 min |
| Jun 1, 4:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | McPherson | 63 min |
| Jun 1, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm 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.