Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Aberdeen, SD

May 17, 1997Brown County, Marshall County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1997, 7:08 PM CDT for Brown County, Marshall County, South Dakota. It was in force for 32 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 17, 1997, 7:08 PM CDT (00:08 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1997, 7:40 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brown County, SD, Marshall County, SD

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:12 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 17, 7:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Kidder, SD
May 17, 7:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Britton, 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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 590 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 59 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
590 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2608 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

774 
WFUS1 KABR 180008 RRA
TORABR
SDC013-091-180040-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
708 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHEASTERN BROWN COUNTY - IN NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA
  WESTERN MARSHALL COUNTY - IN NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 740 PM CDT
 
* PLEASE TAKE COVER IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO.

* AT 706 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY ABERDEEN
  DOPPLER RADAR 41 MILES NORTHEAST OF ABERDEEN OR 8 MILES NORTH OF
  HECLA MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. IT WILL ALSO EFFECT SUNSET
  COLONY. 

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

TDK/DEE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:41 PM CDTTornado WarningABRMarshall19 min
May 17, 8:02 PM CDTTornado WarningABRMarshall33 min
May 17, 8:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRMarshall, Roberts47 min
May 17, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRRoberts49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

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.