Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 62, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

September 5, 2004Dickinson County, Iowa; Jackson County, Minnesota

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Sep 5, 2004, 4:57 PM CDT for Dickinson County, Iowa; Jackson County, Minnesota. It was in force for 33 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Sep 5, 2004, 4:57 PM CDT (21:57 UTC)
Expired
Sep 5, 2004, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Dickinson County, IA, Jackson County, MN

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:57 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
Sep 5, 5:08 PM CDTTORNADO4 W Spirit Lake, IALAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED TORNADO ON GROUND NEAR VICKS CORNER.
Sep 5, 5:15 PM CDTTORNADO8 Nw Spirit Lake, MNTORNADO ON GROUND BETWEEN LITTLE SPIRIT LAKE AND HWY 86.

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 5, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 204 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2004-09-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 246 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2004-09-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 282 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
246 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
698 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
282 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
329 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFSD 052157
TORFSD
IAC059-MNC063-052230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
456 PM CDT SUN SEP 5 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN DICKINSON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA
  SOUTHERN JACKSON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 455 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES   
  SOUTHWEST OF SPIRIT LAKE...MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
RURAL JACKSON COUNTY THROUGH 510 PM CDT
RURAL DICKINSON COUNTY THROUGH 510 PM CDT

TAKE COVER NOW. THIS TORNADO IS WRAPPED IN RAIN. IF YOU WAIT TO SEE
OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR
NORTHWEST IOWA AND SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA.

LAT...LON 4335 9540 4334 9521 4360 9500 4363 9525

$$

CPJ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 5, 3:17 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDCherokee, Ida, Plymouth, Woodbury28 min
Sep 5, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDLyon, Osceola45 min
Sep 5, 3:44 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDCherokee, O'Brien46 min
Sep 5, 4:33 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDClay, Dickinson, O'Brien, Osceola27 min
Sep 5, 5:33 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDJackson12 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2004Tornado Warnings in Minnesota, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.