Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Aberdeen, SD

July 16, 1997Potter County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 16, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT for Potter County, South Dakota. It was in force for 47 min. 1 report 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
Jul 16, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT (01:13 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Potter County, SD

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:16 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
Jul 16, 8:45 PM CDTHail 3Lebanon, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 16, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 124 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 1997-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1702 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 1997-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1702 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-198 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KABR 170112 RRA
TORABR
SDC107-170200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
813 PM CDT WED JUL 16 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  POTTER COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  GETTYSBURG                 AROUND 820PM CDT

* AT 811 PM CDT...ABERDEEN DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5
  MILES SOUTHEAST OF GETTYSBURG MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INNTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

KH/HG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSully48 min
Jul 16, 7:24 PM CDTTornado WarningABRHughes46 min
Jul 16, 7:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRStanley64 min
Jul 16, 7:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRSully47 min
Jul 16, 8:05 PM CDTTornado WarningABRHughes35 min
Jul 16, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRHyde49 min
Jul 16, 8:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRFaulk63 min
Jul 16, 8:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay46 min
Jul 16, 9:47 PM CDTTornado WarningABRDay48 min
Jul 16, 9:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRFaulk50 min
Jul 16, 10:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRClark, Spink49 min
Jul 16, 10:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRDay33 min
Jul 16, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRClark, Day, Spink64 min
Jul 16, 11:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCodington, Grant63 min
Jul 16, 11:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABRCodington, Grant55 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.