Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

June 20, 1997O'Brien County, Osceola County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1997, 8:28 AM CDT for O'Brien County, Osceola County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 20, 1997, 8:28 AM CDT (13:28 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1997, 9:00 AM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

Counties O'Brien County, IA, Osceola County, IA

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:28 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 20, 4:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
Jun 20, 5:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 221 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1997-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 381 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1997-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 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
381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-172 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3033 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
287 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 201329 RRA
SVRFSD
IAC141-143-201400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
828 AM CDT FRI JUN 20 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN O'BRIEN COUNTY - IN NORTHWESTERN IOWA
  SOUTHERN OSCEOLA COUNTY - IN NORTHWESTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 900 AM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
  RITTER                   AROUND 830 AM CDT
  ASHTON                   AROUND 830 AM CDT
  SANBORN                  AROUND 845 AM CDT
  MELVIN                   AROUND 845 AM CDT

* AT 826 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SIBLEY  OR 6 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF RITTER MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.
 
VERY STONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 65 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM!

IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OBSERVED...CONTACT YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR INFORMATION TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

HEITKAMP

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.

NWS Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 19, 8:29 PM CDT, 11 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 8:29 PM CDT, 11 hours 59 minutes before
SOUTH DAKOTA/NORTHWEST IOWA/SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
830 PM CDT WED JUN 18 1997

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL HAS NOT DEVELOPED AS WELL AS EARLIER
EXPECTED AND SOME ADJUSTMENT TO EARLIER CWA ZONES WILL BE MADE.  WILL
ADJUST ZONES IN LINE WITH SPC CHANGES TO WATCH AREA WHICH IS ANTICIPATED
AROUND 9 PM.  WILL LOWER THE POPS FOR LATER TONIGHT FOLLOWING THE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ALONG THE SOUTHEAST BORDER. POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS YET THROUGH MIDNIGHT FROM AROUND YANKTON ON EAST INTO
NORTHWEST IOWA AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO THAT AREA.

.FSD...NONE
UMLAND

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 2:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDPlymouth29 min
Jun 20, 3:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBuena Vista, Cherokee31 min
Jun 20, 5:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon, Sioux31 min
Jun 20, 6:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDSioux36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.