Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 25, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

May 19, 1996Osceola County, Iowa; Jackson County, Minnesota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 19, 1996, 12:40 AM CDT for Osceola County, Iowa; Jackson County, Minnesota. It was in force for 30 min. 2 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 19, 1996, 12:40 AM CDT (05:40 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1996, 1:10 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

Counties Osceola County, IA, Jackson County, MN

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:42 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
May 19, 12:55 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 67Jackson, MN
May 19, 1:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 85Alpha, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 205 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-231 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2274 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 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 KFSD 190541
SVRFSD
IAC143-MNC063-190610-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1240 AM CDT SUN MAY 19 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 110 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA

   ...JACKSON COUNTY

IN NORTHWEST IOWA

   ...OSCEOLA COUNTY
 
AT 1235 AM CDT...A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING DAMAGING
WINDS WAS DETECTED BY SIOUX FALLS DOPPLER RADAR FROM 15 MILES
NORTHEAST OF WORTHINGTON NEAR DUNDEE...TO 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
SIBLEY NEAR MELVIN...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

THESE STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE VICINITY OF...
SPAFFORD                 AROUND 1240 AM CDT
OCHEYEDAN                AROUND 1240 AM CDT
HARRIS                   AROUND 1240 AM CDT
OKABENA                  AROUND 1245 AM CDT
LAKEFIELD                AROUND 1250 AM CDT
JACKSON                  AROUND 100 AM CDT
BERGEN                   AROUND 105 AM CDT
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  FOR YOUR
PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN AND OFTEN DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE
OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT IN
SOUTHERN MINNESOTA THROUGH 2AM...AND NORTHWEST IOWA THROUGH 4AM.

WINDS GUSTING TO 62 MILES AN HOUR WERE OBSERVED AT WORTHINGTON AT
1216 AM CDT.

CHAPMAN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 18, 11:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1100 PM CDT SAT MAY 18 1996

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

830 PM       CHAMBERLAIN                SD         1.75 INCH HAIL
5/18/96      BRULE                                 60 MPH WINDS

900 PM       CHAMBERLAIN                SD         1.00 INCH HAIL
5/18/96      BRULE

908 PM       KIMBALL                    SD         PEA/SIZE HAIL
5/18/96      BRULE

920 PM       WEST OF WHITE LAKE         SD         0.5 INCH HAIL
5/18/96      AURORA

930 PM       NORTHEAST OF HETLAND       SD         0.5 INCH HAIL
5/18/96      KINGSBURY

930 PM       3S HOWARD                  SD         TORNADO OVERTURNED
5/18/96      MINER                                 CARS...DOWNED LARGE
                                                   TREES...CAUSED FIRES

955 PM       1S HOWARD                  SD         55 MPH WINDS
5/18/96      MINER

1038 PM      4SE BROOKINGS              SD         TORNADO REPORTED
5/18/96                                            BY PUBLIC

RSR
Special weather statement, May 19, 12:29 AM CDT, 11 minutes before
SDZ008-011-018>023-035>045>071-MNZ097-098-190700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
1230 AM CDT SUN MAY 19 1996

...TORNADO WATCHES CANCELLED FOR SOUTH DAKOTA...

THE PARTS OF TORNADO WATCHES NUMBER 394 AND 396 AFFECTING SOUTH DAKOTA
HAVE BEEN CANCELLED. LINGERING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED
TO PRODUCE ANY MORE SEVERE WEATHER.

WILLIAMS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 11:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon, Sioux28 min
May 19, 12:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon, Sioux27 min
May 18, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLincoln29 min
May 18, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon, Murray, Pipestone29 min
May 18, 11:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDNobles, Rock29 min
May 18, 11:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon28 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1996Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.