Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2012
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Sioux Falls, SD
NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2012, 3:20 PM CDT for O'Brien County, Sioux County, Iowa. It was in force for 25 min. 5 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
- May 4, 2012, 3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 2012, 3:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 25 min
- Issued by
- NWS Sioux Falls, SD
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
Counties O'Brien County, IA, Sioux County, IA
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:20 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 4, 3:22 PM CDT | TORNADO | 3 N Orange City, IA | |
| May 4, 3:40 PM CDT | TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Hospers, IA | SMALL BRANCHES BROKEN. |
| May 4, 3:40 PM CDT | NON-TSTM WND DMG | 3 E Hospers, IA | SMALL BRANCHES BROKEN. |
| May 4, 3:45 PM CDT | TSTM WND GST 60 | Sheldon, IA | |
| May 4, 3:46 PM CDT | TSTM WND GST 70 | N Hospers, IA | PEA SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO PRESENT. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 9 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 206 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
- 2705 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 584 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 98 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
123 WFUS53 KFSD 042020 TORFSD IAC141-167-042045- /O.NEW.KFSD.TO.W.0021.120504T2020Z-120504T2045Z/ BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 320 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2012 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHWESTERN O'BRIEN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA... EAST CENTRAL SIOUX COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA... * UNTIL 345 PM CDT * AT 320 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR SIOUX CENTER...OR 7 MILES NORTH OF ORANGE CITY...AND MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. * THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR... HOSPERS AROUND 330 PM CDT... SHELDON AROUND 340 PM CDT... ARCHER AROUND 345 PM CDT... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS. && LAT...LON 4325 9575 4307 9572 4300 9614 4314 9620 TIME...MOT...LOC 2020Z 254DEG 32KT 4311 9605 $$ SCHUMACHER
1 follow-up statement
257 WWUS53 KFSD 042028 SVSFSD SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 328 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2012 IAC141-167-042045- /O.CON.KFSD.TO.W.0021.000000T0000Z-120504T2045Z/ SIOUX IA-O'BRIEN IA- 328 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2012 ...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWESTERN O'BRIEN AND EAST CENTRAL SIOUX COUNTIES UNTIL 345 PM CDT... AT 328 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE TRACKING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR HOSPERS...OR 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF ORANGE CITY...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS DANGEROUS STORM WILL BE NEAR... ARCHER AROUND 345 PM CDT... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS. && LAT...LON 4301 9608 4313 9613 4325 9575 4307 9572 TIME...MOT...LOC 2028Z 257DEG 34KT 4308 9595 $$ SCHUMACHER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 7:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Cherokee | 33 min |
| May 3, 8:05 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FSD | Cherokee | 93 min |
| May 3, 8:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Buena Vista, Cherokee | 38 min |
| May 4, 3:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Sioux | 30 min |
| May 4, 3:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Plymouth, Sioux | 31 min |
| May 4, 3:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | O'Brien, Osceola, Sioux | 42 min |
| May 4, 3:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Plymouth | 36 min |
| May 4, 3:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | O'Brien, Sioux | 32 min |
| May 4, 4:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Cherokee, O'Brien | 29 min |
| May 4, 4:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Clay | 24 min |
| May 4, 4:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Dickinson, Osceola | 51 min |
| May 4, 4:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Clay, O'Brien | 33 min |
| May 4, 4:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Clay | 35 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2012Every tornado warning in 2012Tornadoes in 2012
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.