Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 20, 1996McPherson County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1996, 5:47 PM CDT for McPherson County, South Dakota. It was in force for 48 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
Jul 20, 1996, 5:47 PM CDT (22:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1996, 6:35 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County McPherson County, SD

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:50 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 20, 6:05 PM CDTTornado F0Eureka, 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 116 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1996-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1996-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABR 202248
TORABR
SDC089-202335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
547 PM CDT SAT JUL 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 635 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

   ...EASTERN MCPHERSON COUNTY
 
 THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT LONG LAKE BETWEEN 6PM AND
6:30 PM CDT.

AT 545 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY ABERDEEN
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 46 MILES NORTHWEST OF ABERDEEN OR
12 MILES WEST OF LONG LAKE MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE XOF 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRHughes50 min
Jul 20, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSully36 min
Jul 20, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WarningABRHyde50 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.