Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Aberdeen, SD
NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1996, 5:42 PM CDT for Big Stone County, Minnesota; Grant County, Roberts County, South Dakota. It was in force for 48 min. 10 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 17, 1996, 5:42 PM CDT (22:42 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1996, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Aberdeen, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Big Stone County, MN, Grant County, SD, Roberts County, SD
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:43 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 17, 6:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Milbank, SD | |
| May 17, 6:00 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Ortley, SD | |
| May 17, 6:03 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Wilmot, SD | |
| May 17, 6:05 PM CDT | Tornado F3 | Clinton, MN | |
| May 17, 6:05 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Ortley, SD | |
| May 17, 6:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Milbank, SD | |
| May 17, 6:16 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Claire City, SD | |
| May 17, 6:25 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Milbank, SD | |
| May 17, 6:35 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Ortonville, MN | |
| May 17, 6:35 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Ortonville, MN |
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 144 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
- 1289 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -330 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 656 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 137 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 52 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 172241 TORABR MNC011-SDC029-051-091-109-172330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 542 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ABERDEEN SD HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ...EASTERN MARSHALL COUNTY ...ROBERTS COUNTY ...GRANT COUNTY ...CODINGTON COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA ...BIG STONE COUNTY RADAR SHOWING A FAMILY OF TORNADOES EXTENDING FROM VEBLEN TO EASTERN MARSHALL COUNTY TO WATERTON TO MARVIN AND WILL AFFECT SISSETON...WATERTOWN... SUMMIT... THROUGH 615 PM CDT. TORNADOES MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. 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.
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 17, 2:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
MNZ039-046-SDZ007-008-011-019>023-172025- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 252 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1996 A STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR THE COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA AND PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THE COUNTIES THAT ARE AFFECTED ARE: CLARK...GRANT...CODINGTON...HAMLIN...DAY...MARSHALL...DEUEL AND ROBERTS COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. TRAVERSE AND BIG STONE COUNTIES OF WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN bFOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. SALMONS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Aberdeen, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 5:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Big Stone | 47 min |
| May 17, 6:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Traverse | 63 min |
| May 17, 6:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Big Stone | 49 min |
| May 16, 10:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Corson | 59 min |
| May 16, 10:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Corson | 58 min |
| May 16, 11:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Dewey | 59 min |
| May 16, 11:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Campbell | 57 min |
| May 16, 11:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Corson, Dewey | 32 min |
| May 17, 12:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Campbell, Corson, Walworth | 52 min |
| May 17, 12:43 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | McPherson | 47 min |
| May 17, 2:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Day | 63 min |
| May 17, 2:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Marshall | 62 min |
| May 17, 2:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Marshall | 61 min |
| May 17, 3:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Hand | 29 min |
| May 17, 4:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Brown | 63 min |
| May 17, 4:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Day | 62 min |
| May 17, 4:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Spink | 66 min |
| May 17, 4:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Marshall | 63 min |
| May 17, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Codington, Grant | 49 min |
| May 17, 5:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Clark | 46 min |
| May 17, 5:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Marshall | 49 min |
| May 17, 5:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Codington, Grant | 33 min |
| May 17, 5:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Day | 48 min |
| May 17, 5:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Codington | 48 min |
| May 17, 5:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Marshall | 48 min |
| May 17, 6:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ABR | Deuel | 49 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1996Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 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.