Alert archive / South Dakota / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

May 28, 2004Clay County, Union County, South Dakota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at May 28, 2004, 8:01 PM CDT for Clay County, Union County, South Dakota. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 28, 2004, 8:01 PM CDT (01:01 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 2004, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Clay County, SD, Union County, SD

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:04 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this tornado warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

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 28, 3:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 192 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: 821 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -143 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1968 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 152 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

294 
WFUS53 KFSD 290101
TORFSD
SDC027-127-290130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
759 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEAST CLAY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA
  NORTHERN UNION COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 759 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES.  THIS LINE 
  OF STORMS WAS LOCATED 11 MILES NORTHEAST OF BERESFORD TO 12 MILES 
  WEST OF BERESFORD...OR FROM 8 MILES SOUTH OF CANTON TO 12 MILES 
  WEST OF BERESFORD...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* TORNADO PRODUCING STORMS ARE WILL BE NEAR...
  BERESFROD AROUND 805 PM CDT
  ALCESTER AROUND 820 PM CDT

A TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO TAKING TREES DOWN 3 
MILES WEST OF CENTERVILLE.  

A TORNADO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING NOW.
MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES ARE NOT SAFE.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FRIDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWEST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND
NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA.

LAT...LON 4302 9697 4309 9698 4309 9647 4302 9655
          4291 9649

$$

PS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at May 28, 3:15 PM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 3:15 PM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
315 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

.DISCUSSION...
WARM FRONT TO THE SOUTH WILL BE MOVING NORTH TONIGHT. EXPECT TSTMS
TO DEVELOP ALONG FRONT NEAR MISSOURI LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN
SPREAD NORTH AS FRONT MOVES NORTH. A FEW STORMS COULD BE SEVERE THIS
EVENING...MAINLY EAST OF I29. THE QUESTION IS HOW FAR NORTH THE WARM
FRONT WILL MOVE BY SATURDAY MRNG...FOR NOW MOVE INTO NORTH PARTS OF
CWA. THIS WILL END THE CHANCE OF TSTMS IN SOUTH CENTRAL SD LATE
EVENING AND OVER REST OF AREA BY MORNING. SOUTH WINDS WILL STAY UP
TNGT KEEPING TEMPS UP. ON SATURDAY A COLD FRONT TO THE WEST WILL
MOVE INTO CENTRAL SD BY AROUND NOON...WITH MODELS TRYING TO SHOW THE
WARM FRONT EXTENDING IN SOUTHWEST MN. GOOD SOUTH WINDS OVER CWA AND
WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES TEMPS SHOULD WARM INTO THE 80S. GOOD
MOISTURE OVER THE AREA...ESPECIALLY AFTER RAIN TONIGHT AND TSTMS
SHOULD DEVELOP IN WESTERN AREA BY AROUND NOON AHEAD OF FRONT. AS
FRONT MOVES EAST TSTMS SHOULD INCREASE OVER AREA. TSTMS LIKELY
GENERALLY FROM I29 AND EAST BY LATE AFTN INTO EVENING. THIS ALSO
BEST AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER WITH HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. CHANCE OF
TSTMS WILL BE DECREASING FROM WEST TO EAST SATURDAY NIGHT BEHIND
FRONT WITH WESTERN AREAS DOWN TO SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SUNDAY MRNG
SHWRS OVER CWA WITH ONLY SOME ISOLATED TSTMS OVER NW IA AND SW MN
EARLY. ENDED SHWRS OVER ALL BUT THE EAST BY AROUND NOON AND IN LATE
AFTN EAST.  TEMPS ON SUNDAY WILL BE 10 TO 15 DEGREES COOLER THAN
SATURDAY. WENT DRY SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY MRNG WITH COOLER MORE
STABLE AIR. SUNDAY AFTN AN UPPER WAVE SWINGS THROUGH AND WENT FOR A
CHANCE OF SHWRS. AS WAVE MOVES THROUGH SHOWERS WILL BE ENDING FROM
WEST TO EAST...EXCEPT IN FAR EAST WHERE CONTINUED THEM INTO TUESDAY.
KEPT HIGHS BELOW NORMAL ON MONDAY.

IN THE LONG RANGE..SHWRS ENDING IN EAST BY TUESDAY EVENING AS HIGH
PRESSURE PUSHES IN FROM WEST WITH MORE ZONAL FLOW. THIS WILL KEEP IT
DRY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS TEMPS WARM BACK UP TO NEAR NORMAL.
RIDGE MOVING FROM THE WEST ON THURSDAY AS WINDS BECOME MORE
SOUTHERLY. KEPT IT DRY ON THURSDAY WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS.

&&

.FSD...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SD...NONE.
MN...NONE.
IA...NONE.
NE...NONE.

&&

WB

Hazardous weather outlook, May 28, 1:52 PM CDT, 6 hours 9 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
152 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098-
IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-291200-
AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA-
CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE-
DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON-
IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN-
LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN-
OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN-
SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON-
152 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS...
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP BETWEEN 4 PM AND 6
PM SOUTH OF A LINE FROM WESSINGTON SPRINGS TO SPENCER.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS ALONG AND EAST OF
INTERSTATE 29 TOWARD SUNSET. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THE
INTERSTATE 90 CORRIDOR IN MINNESOTA AROUND 8 PM...AND MARSHALL
AFTER 10 PM. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE
HAIL...WITH A FEW STORMS HAVING THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE GOLF
BALL SIZED HAIL. WHILE THE ENTIRE AREA COULD SEE LARGE HAIL...THE
BEST CHANCE WILL BE EAST OF A LINE FROM YANKTON TO BROOKINGS
SOUTH DAKOTA. THERE COULD ALSO BE AN ISOLATED WIND GUST IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH NEAR THE MISSOURI RIVER INTO NORTHWEST IOWA PRIOR TO
SUNSET.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR A SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK ON SATURDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER EXISTS
EAST OF LINE FROM BROOKINGS TO YANKTON SOUTH DAKOTA.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN DEVELOPING BY EARLY AFTERNOON
NEAR THE JAMES RIVER AND MOVE EAST THROUGH THE EVENING. LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS SHOULD BE THE MAIN THREATS. THE LARGEST
THREAT FOR DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE EAST OF A LINE FROM DE SMET TO
YANKTON SOUTH DAKOTA. THERE WILL ALSO BE A TORNADO
THREAT...PRIMARILY IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA AND NORTHWEST IOWA LATE
SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINS PRODUCING FLASH
FLOODING SATURDAY EVENING AND SATURDAY NIGHT.  THE MOST LIKELY
AREA FOR HEAVY RAIN WILL BE ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 29.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE POSSIBLE AFTER 4 PM SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM
WESSINGTON SPRINGS SOUTH DAKOTA TO SPENCER IOWA.
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY AFTER 7 PM EAST OF A LINE FROM
YANKTON TO BROOKINGS.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/FSD. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

SCHUMACHER

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 28, 6:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
616 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0545 PM     HAIL             3 W UTICA               42.98N 97.56W
05/28/2004  0.75 INCH        YANKTON            SD   PUBLIC

&&

PS

Local storm report, May 28, 6:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
621 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0620 PM     HAIL             5 E BRIDGEWATER         43.55N 97.40W
05/28/2004  1.00 INCH        MCCOOK             SD   EMERGENCY MNGR

&&

PS

Local storm report, May 28, 6:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
631 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0624 PM     HAIL             1 N YANKTON             42.90N 97.39W
05/28/2004  0.75 INCH        YANKTON            SD   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

PS

Local storm report, May 28, 7:05 PM CDT, 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
705 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0657 PM     HAIL             4 SSW MECKLING          42.79N 97.10W
05/28/2004  1.00 INCH        CLAY               SD   PUBLIC

&&

PS

Local storm report, May 28, 7:18 PM CDT, 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
718 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0717 PM     HAIL             1 N MASKELL             42.70N 96.98W
05/28/2004  0.88 INCH        DIXON              NE   PUBLIC

&&

PS

Local storm report, May 28, 7:29 PM CDT, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
729 PM CDT FRI MAY 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0505 PM     HAIL             TABOR                   42.95N 97.66W
05/28/2004  0.75 INCH        BON HOMME          SD   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

WB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 28, 7:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	McCook, Minnehaha	40 min
May 28, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Clay, Union	45 min
May 28, 7:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Lincoln, Turner	44 min
May 28, 8:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Lincoln	35 min
May 28, 8:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Union	30 min
May 28, 8:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Union	25 min
May 28, 8:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Lincoln	33 min
May 28, 8:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Union	17 min
May 28, 8:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Union	35 min
May 28, 11:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Miner	35 min
May 28, 11:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Davison	42 min
May 29, 12:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Brookings, Kingsbury	28 min
May 29, 12:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lake, Miner	38 min
May 29, 12:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Brookings	32 min
May 29, 3:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Charles Mix, Gregory	40 min
May 29, 4:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Charles Mix	45 min
May 29, 4:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Turner	39 min
May 29, 4:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	McCook, Minnehaha	41 min
May 29, 4:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Turner	32 min
May 29, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lake	29 min
May 29, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Yankton	28 min
May 29, 5:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	McCook, Minnehaha	27 min
May 29, 5:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Yankton	31 min
May 29, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Turner	29 min
May 29, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Kingsbury	23 min
May 29, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Clay	14 min
May 29, 5:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Minnehaha	29 min
May 29, 5:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Turner, Yankton	33 min
May 29, 6:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	FSD	Minnehaha	29 min
May 29, 6:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Turner	30 min
May 29, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Minnehaha	28 min
May 29, 6:52 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FSD	Lincoln, Turner	113 min
May 29, 6:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lincoln	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Dakota, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.