Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

June 5, 1999Plymouth County, Sioux County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1999, 5:12 PM CDT for Plymouth County, Sioux County, Iowa. It was in force for 48 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: Jun 5, 1999, 5:12 PM CDT (22:12 UTC)
Expired: Jun 5, 1999, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area: Whole counties

Counties Plymouth County, IA, Sioux County, IA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Jun 5, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Craig, IA
Jun 5, 5:16 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Le Mars, IA
Jun 5, 5:45 PM CDT	Hail 1	Fairview, IA

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
Jun 5, 4:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 177 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: 1652 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -292 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 927 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 322 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

934 
WFUS1 KFSD 052214 RRA
TORFSD
IAC149-167-052300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
512 PM CDT SAT JUN 5 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SIOUX COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA
  NORTHERN PLYMOUTH COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 512 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTH OF CRAIG...OR ABOUT 8 MILES WEST OF LE
  MARS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  STRUBLE AROUND 520 PM CDT
  MAURICE AROUND 525 PM CDT
  ALTON...ORANGE CITY...SIOUX CENTER AROUND 535 PM CDT
  BOYDEN...HOSPERS AROUND 545 PM CDT
  MATLOCK AROUND 555 PM CDT

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING
SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY. GO TO THE BASEMENT. IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO
TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN SIOUX FALLS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 5, 4:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Plymouth	36 min
Jun 5, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lyon, Sioux	41 min
Jun 5, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	30 min
Jun 5, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Cherokee, O'Brien	33 min
Jun 5, 6:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	O'Brien	15 min
Jun 5, 6:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Sioux	33 min
Jun 5, 6:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Plymouth	34 min
Jun 5, 6:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Plymouth	33 min
Jun 5, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Dickinson, O'Brien, Osceola	48 min
Jun 5, 6:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cherokee	35 min
Jun 5, 6:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Sioux	41 min
Jun 5, 6:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Clay	31 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

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.