Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Sioux Falls, SD
NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 7, 1997, 5:01 PM CDT for Lyon County, Sioux County, Iowa. It was in force for 44 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 7, 1997, 5:01 PM CDT (22:01 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 7, 1997, 5:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 44 min
- Issued by
- NWS Sioux Falls, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Lyon County, IA, Sioux County, IA
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:01 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 5:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Hawarden, IA | |
| Jul 7, 5:25 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Inwood, IA | A brief tornado observed by sheriff's office personnel resulted in no reported damage. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 4:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 213 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 929 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 92 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFSD 072202 RRA TORFSD IAC119-167-072245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 501 PM CDT MON JUL 7 1997 * TORNADO WARNING FOR LYON COUNTY - NORTHWESTERN IOWA WESTERN SIOUX COUNTY - NORTHWESTERN IOWA * UNTIL 545 PM CDT * SOME AREAS AFFECTED ROCK VALLEY AROUND 455 PM CDT ROCK RAPIDS AROUND 505 PM CDT GEORGE AROUND 515 PM CDT MATLOCK AROUND 520 PM CDT SHELDON AROUND 525 PM CDT * AT 457 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SIOUX FALLS OR 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALVORD MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. AT 500 AM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR CANTON SOUTH DAKOTA. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF2 A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. BLOOM &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 5:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Plymouth | 30 min |
| Jul 7, 6:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Plymouth | 30 min |
| Jul 7, 6:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Plymouth | 33 min |
| Jul 7, 6:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Plymouth | 33 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 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.