Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 17, 1996Day County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 1996, 7:24 PM CDT for Day County, South Dakota. It was in force for 46 min. 3 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: Jul 17, 1996, 7:24 PM CDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired: Jul 17, 1996, 8:10 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area: Whole counties

County Day County, SD

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:26 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
Jul 17, 7:39 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Andover, SD
Jul 17, 7:52 PM CDT	Tornado F2	Pierpont, SD
Jul 17, 8:05 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Pierpont, 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, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 81 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 4029 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1079 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 4.3
Supercell composite: 17.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KABR 180023
TORABR
SDC037-180110-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
724 PM CDT WED JUL 17 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 810 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

   ...WESTERN DAY COUNTY
 
AT 721 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY ABERDEEN
DOPPLER RADAR 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF ANDOVER MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD WITH THIS STORM AT 711 PM OVER
GROTON.

THE COMMUNITIES MOST THREATENED BY THIS TORNADO...
BRISTOL                             AROUND 750 PM CDT
LANGFORD AND PIERPONT               AROUND 732 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 OHR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

TDK/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, Jul 17, 3:42 PM CDT, 3 hours 42 minutes before

SDZ003>005-009-010-015>017-033>037-045-048-051-180250-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
343 PM CDT (243 PM MDT) WED JUL 17 1996

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST SOUTH
DAKOTA UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND PARTS OF
NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.  THIS MEANS THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND
EVEN TORNADOES WILL BE A POSSIBILITY IN THE WATCH AREA THROUGH 10
PM.  THE WATCH AREA GENERALLY STRETCHES OVER AN AREA FROM MOBRIDGE
SOUTH TO PIERRE AND EAST TO JUST WEST OF BROWN AND SPINK COUNTY.

EVEN YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA PLEASE STAY CLOSE TO A RADIO OR TV IN
CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

TDK

Local storm report, Jul 17, 4:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
455 PM CDT WED JUL 17 1996

TIME(CDT)    ...CITY LOCATION....   STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS....
             ...COUNTY LOCATION...

0442 PM      2 N ISABEL             SD      1.75 HAIL
07/17/96     DEWEY

TDK

Local storm report, Jul 17, 5:05 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
507 PM CDT WED JUL 17 1996

TIME(CDT)    ...CITY LOCATION....   STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS....
             ...COUNTY LOCATION...

0410 PM      8 NE GLAD VALLEY        SD      .75 HAIL
07/17/96     CORSON

TDK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 17, 7:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ABR	Day	46 min
Jul 17, 8:25 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABR	Marshall	35 min
Jul 17, 8:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABR	Marshall	35 min
Jul 17, 8:40 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ABR	Day, Roberts	50 min
Jul 17, 8:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ABR	Day, Roberts	50 min
Jul 17, 9:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABR	Day	47 min
Jul 17, 9:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABR	Clark	49 min
Jul 17, 10:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ABR	Clark, Codington	31 min
Jul 17, 10:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ABR	Codington	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.