Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Aberdeen, SD

May 17, 1996Codington County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1996, 5:42 PM CDT for Codington County, South Dakota. It was in force for 48 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

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

County Codington County, SD

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 110 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1996-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1289 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCorson59 min
May 16, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCorson58 min
May 16, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDewey59 min
May 16, 11:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell57 min
May 16, 11:48 PM CDTTornado WarningABRCorson, Dewey32 min
May 17, 12:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCampbell, Corson, Walworth52 min
May 17, 12:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMcPherson47 min
May 17, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay63 min
May 17, 2:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall62 min
May 17, 2:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall61 min
May 17, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRHand29 min
May 17, 4:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRBrown63 min
May 17, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay62 min
May 17, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSpink66 min
May 17, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall63 min
May 17, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCodington, Grant49 min
May 17, 5:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRClark46 min
May 17, 5:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall49 min
May 17, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningABRCodington, Grant33 min
May 17, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay48 min
May 17, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningABRGrant, Roberts48 min
May 17, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningABRMarshall48 min
May 17, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDeuel49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.