Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Sioux Falls, SD
NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1998, 8:32 PM CDT for McCook County, South Dakota. It was in force for 33 min. 3 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
- May 30, 1998, 8:32 PM CDT (01:32 UTC)
- Expired
- May 30, 1998, 9:05 PM CDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Sioux Falls, SD
- Area
- Whole counties
County McCook County, SD
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:33 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 8:38 PM CDT | Tornado F4 | Spencer, SD | The tornado from Hanson County destroyed most of Spencer as it strengthened and continued to grow. Most homes, other buildings, and other structures in Spencer were completely levelled. Debris and belongings were scattered over a large area, and one receipt bl |
| May 30, 8:56 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Salem, SD | |
| May 30, 9:07 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Canistota, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 8:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1585 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -49 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1033 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 67 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.4
- Supercell composite
- 7.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFSD 310132 RRA TORFSD SDC087-310205- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 832 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN MCCOOK COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA * UNTIL 905 PM CDT * AT 829 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 20 MILES EAST OF MITCHELL OR 5 MILES WEST OF SPENCER MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... UNITYVILLE AROUND 835 PM CDT SALEM AROUND 845 PM CDT LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 5 MILES WEST OF SPENCER AT 825 PM. 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. BLOOM &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 7:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Beadle | 32 min |
| May 30, 7:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Sanborn | 30 min |
| May 30, 7:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Davison, Hanson | 31 min |
| May 30, 8:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Hanson | 33 min |
| May 30, 8:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Miner | 31 min |
| May 30, 8:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Hanson | 35 min |
| May 30, 9:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | McCook | 36 min |
| May 30, 9:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Lake, Moody | 31 min |
| May 30, 9:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Minnehaha | 50 min |
| May 30, 9:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Turner | 32 min |
| May 30, 9:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Lincoln | 32 min |
| May 30, 9:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Lincoln | 24 min |
| May 30, 10:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Lincoln | 32 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998
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.