Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

August 20, 2002Hanson County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 2002, 9:10 PM CDT for Hanson County, South Dakota. It was in force for 35 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
Aug 20, 2002, 9:10 PM CDT (02:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 2002, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Hanson County, SD

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:09 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
Aug 20, 9:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52 EFarmer, SD
Aug 20, 9:10 PM CDTHail 0.88Farmer, SD
Aug 20, 9:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52 EEmery, SDThunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including small limbs blown down.

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
Aug 20, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 2002-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-265 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
857 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

375 
WFUS53 KFSD 210210
TORFSD
SDC061-210245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
909 PM CDT TUE AUG 20 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HANSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 909 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  ALEXANDRIA...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MITCHELL...MOVING EAST
  AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  EMERY AROUND 930 PM CDT

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY
ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

THIS THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. TAKE SHELTER
NOW.

TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND FIND SHELTER IN A
NEARBY STURDY BUILDING.

LAT...LON 4370 9796 4352 9796 4351 9762 4371 9762

BOUSTEAD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDDavison, Sanborn43 min
Aug 20, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDAurora35 min
Aug 20, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDGregory42 min
Aug 20, 8:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDHanson50 min
Aug 20, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDDavison29 min
Aug 20, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLake, Miner43 min
Aug 20, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMcCook43 min
Aug 20, 9:10 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDHanson35 min
Aug 20, 9:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDAurora43 min
Aug 20, 9:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDDouglas50 min
Aug 20, 9:42 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFSDAurora, Davison108 min
Aug 20, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMinnehaha63 min
Aug 20, 9:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMcCook46 min
Aug 20, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDHutchinson49 min
Aug 21, 7:46 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFSDMinnehaha119 min
Aug 21, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDGregory51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

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.