Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

August 6, 1996Lake County, McCook County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Aug 6, 1996, 6:27 PM CDT for Lake County, McCook County, South Dakota. It was in force for 33 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
Aug 6, 1996, 6:27 PM CDT (23:27 UTC)
Expired
Aug 6, 1996, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lake County, SD, McCook County, SD

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:14 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
Aug 6, 6:27 PM CDTHail 0.75Spencer, SD
Aug 6, 6:50 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 53Madison, 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, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 149 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 1996-08-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1082 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 1996-08-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 318 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
1082 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-456 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1178 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
318 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
222 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 062327
TORFSD
SDC079-087-070000-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
627 PM CDT TUE AUG 6 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS SD HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA

   ...SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY

IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

   ...NORTHERN MCCOOK COUNTY
 
AT 627 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY SIOUX FALLS
DOPPLER RADAR 23 MILES EAST OF MITCHELL  OR 5 MILES NORTH OF
SPENCER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY
EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER RURAL AREAS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

HOLMES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 6, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDCharles Mix47 min
Aug 6, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLake, Miner29 min
Aug 6, 5:46 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDDavison34 min
Aug 6, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBon Homme46 min
Aug 6, 5:54 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDAurora21 min
Aug 6, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDSanborn31 min
Aug 6, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDLake, Miner35 min
Aug 6, 6:20 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDDavison35 min
Aug 6, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDBon Homme31 min
Aug 6, 6:36 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDMiner, Sanborn34 min
Aug 6, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBrookings, Kingsbury34 min
Aug 6, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDHutchinson, Turner48 min
Aug 6, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDLake35 min
Aug 6, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDSanborn34 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.