Alert archive / South Dakota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 25, 1997Kingsbury County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 25, 1997, 9:54 PM CDT for Kingsbury County, South Dakota. It was in force for 46 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
Jul 25, 1997, 9:54 PM CDT (02:54 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1997, 10:40 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Kingsbury County, SD

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:54 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 25, 10:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Lake Preston, SDThunderstorm winds blew down power lines and caused tree damage.
Jul 25, 10:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Arlington, SDThunderstorm winds caused widespread tree, power line, and pole damage. The winds also damaged a car wash under construction, blew down road signs, and broke windows. Some vehicles were damaged, mainly by trees or tree debris.

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 25, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1997-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3331 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 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
3331 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1007 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

503 
WUUS1 KFSD 260305 RRA
SVRFSD
SDC077-260340-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
954 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  NORTHWESTERN KINGSBURY COUNTY IN EASTCENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 1040 PM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
  BANCROFT                 AROUND 955 PM CDT
  MANCHESTER               AROUND 1000 PM CDT
  DE SMET                  AROUND 1020 PM CDT

* AT 952 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 18 MILES NORTHEAST OF HURON  OR 6 MILES WEST
  OF BANCROFT  MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND
OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  FOR YOUR
PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS.

BLOOM

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 Jul 25, 8:34 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 8:34 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SOUTH DAKOTA/NORTHWEST IOWA/SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
834 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1997

NEXRAD AT FSD SHOWS TSTMS OVR NERN SD MOVG SE TWD FORECAST AREA. THESE
TSTMS SHOULD REACH COUNTIES IN WATCH AND FORECAST AREA THIS EVE. NEXRAD
AT ABR ALSO SUPPPORTS THIS. TSTMS HAVE BEEN DVLPG ON PREVIOUS TSTM S
BOUND OUTFLOW BOUNDRIES.

NEXRAD AT FSD ALSO SHOWS TSTMS LONG RANGE OVR N CNTRL NE HAVE WEAKENED.
TSTMS OVR CNTRL NE MOVG SLOWLY NORTHEAST BUT PAST HOUR HAVE ALSO SHOWN
SIGNS OF WEAKENING. THESE APPEAR TO BE SEVERAL HOURS FROM FORECAST AREA
ATTM BUT MAY REACH FORECAST AREA AFTER MIDN.

MAY ISSUE UPDATE ON FORECAST FOR STRONGER WORDING ON TSTMS OVR NERN
PART OF FORECAST AREA.

.FSD...NONE

BLOOM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 25, 10:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDKingsbury47 min
Jul 25, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDBrookings50 min
Jul 25, 11:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDKingsbury, Lake47 min
Jul 25, 11:32 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDLake48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Dakota, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.