Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Aberdeen, SD
NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1996, 5:48 PM CDT for Big Stone County, Minnesota. It was in force for 47 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
- May 17, 1996, 5:48 PM CDT (22:48 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1996, 6:35 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Aberdeen, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
County Big Stone County, MN
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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, 6:05 PM CDT | Tornado F3 | Clinton, MN | |
| 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 172247 TORABR MNC011-172335- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD 548 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 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 WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA ...BIG STONE COUNTY AT 547 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY ABERDEEN DOPPLER RADAR 28 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SISSETON OR 16 MILES WEST OF ORTONVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES MOST THREATENED BY THIS TORNADO... ORTONVILLE AROUND 611 PM CDT BARRY AROUND 619 PM CDT GRACEVILLE AROUND 625 PM CDT DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OF LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
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 56 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, 5:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ABR | Big Stone | 48 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 |
Nearby
Tornado 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.