Alert archive / Minnesota / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Aberdeen, SD

August 5, 1997Traverse County, Minnesota; Roberts County, South Dakota

NWS Aberdeen, SD issued this tornado warning at Aug 5, 1997, 8:54 PM CDT for Traverse County, Minnesota; Roberts County, South Dakota. It was in force for 76 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 5, 1997, 8:54 PM CDT (01:54 UTC)
Expired: Aug 5, 1997, 10:10 PM CDT
In force: 76 min
Issued by: NWS Aberdeen, SD
Area: Whole counties

Counties Traverse County, MN, Roberts County, SD

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:53 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
Aug 5, 8:57 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Rosholt, SD	Strong thunderstorm winds flattened an old granary and unrolled large round bales. Many trees in the area were uprooted and twisted. Also, wind driven hail stripped corn and bashed beans.
Aug 5, 9:23 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Browns Vly, MN	Strong thunderstorm winds knocked a tree down along with several other branches.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 5, 8:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 159 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1797 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 107 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 KABR 060200 RRA
TORABR
MNC155-SDC109-060310-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
854 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

CORRECTED TO MAKE COMBINATION TORNADO AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM


* TORNADO AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  ROBERTS COUNTY - NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA
  TRAVERSE COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 1010 PM CDT

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  NEW EFFINGTON AND VICTOR            AROUND 910 PM CDT
  ROSHOLT                             AROUND 910 PM CDT
  WHEATON                             AROUND 925 PM CDT
  BROWNS VALLEY AND COLLIS            AROUND 945 PM CDT

* AT 850 PM CDT...ABERDEEN DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND A TORNADO 27 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  SISSETON OR 10 MILES NORTH OF VICTOR MOVING SOUTH AT 30 MPH.

THIS STORM ALSO HAS A HISTORY OF DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. TAKE
COVER IN A BASEMENT OR INNERMOST ROOM OF A STURDY BUILDING AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.!

HG

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.

NWS Aberdeen, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 5, 8:31 PM CDT, 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 8:31 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR CENTRAL/NORTH CENTRAL/NORTHEAST SD
AND FOR TRAVERSE/BIG STONE COUNTIES OF MN
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ABERDEEN SD
830 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

88D SHWS TSTMS OVR ND CONT TO MOV fSSE. CRNT FCST LOOK GUD BUT
WIL UPDATE FOR TOR WATCH.

.ABR...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 3:31 PM CDT, 5 hours 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ABERDEEN SD
331 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

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

0700 PM    10 W AGAR                 SD   0.75 INCH HAIL
08/03/97   SULLY

0655 PM    POLO                      SD   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/03/97   HAND

HG

Local storm report, Aug 5, 3:32 PM CDT, 5 hours 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  ABERDEEN SD
332 PM CDT TUE AUG 5 1997

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

0700 PM    10 W AGAR                 SD   0.75 INCH HAIL
08/03/97   SULLY

0655 PM    POLO                      SD   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/03/97   HAND

HG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 5, 8:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABR	Traverse	76 min
Aug 5, 9:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABR	Big Stone	61 min
Aug 5, 9:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ABR	Grant	47 min

Nearby

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