Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Des Moines, IA

September 19, 1986Ringgold County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 19, 1986, 1:00 AM CDT for Ringgold County, Iowa. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 19, 1986, 1:00 AM CDT (06:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 19, 1986, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Ringgold County, IA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 190 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1986-09-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1986-09-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 18, 9:52 PM CDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
945 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
   UNTIL 2 AM CDT...

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR WEST HALF OF IOWA TONIGHT...

...NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 900 PM AND 930 PM...
AT 930 PM
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH
WEST IOWA. THEY WERE LOCATED 5 TO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF KNOXVILLE
...MELCHER AND LUCAS...OR 25 MILES EAST...SOUTHEAST...AND SOUTH
OF DES MOINES. THE OTHER STORMS WERE NEAR SIDNEY WHICH IS 45 MILES
SOUTH OF OMAHA.

RAINSHOWERS STRETCHED FROM DES MOINES TO MARSHALLTOWN IN CENTRAL
IOWA AND FROM SPENCER TO MASON CITY IN THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH
CENTRAL.

THE STORMS AND SHOWERS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

OBRIEN
Special weather statement, Sep 18, 10:55 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1055 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
   UNTIL 2 AM CDT...

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR WEST HALF OF IOWA TONIGHT...

...NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 930 PM AND 1030 PM...
AT 1030 PM
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING IN SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTH
WEST IOWA. THE STRONGEST STRETCHED FROM OSKALOOSA TO CHARITON...OR 45
MILES EAST TO 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES. OTHER STRONG STORMS
WERE LOCATED NEAR ATLANTIC...SHENANDOAH AND AFTON. SHENANDOAH IS 40
MILES SOUTH OF OMAHA WHILE AFTON IS 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES.

RAINSHOWERS WERE LOCATED IN THE AREA BETWEEN RED ROCK LAKE...WATERLOO
...AND CEDAR RAPIDS. SHOWERS WERE ALSO OCCURRING IN THE NORTH CENTRAL.
THEY WERE IN THE FORM OF A NARROW BAND THAT STRECTHED FROM EMMETSBURG
...70 MILES WEST OF MASON CITY...TO MASON CITY.

MOST OF THE STORMS AND SHOWERS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
THOSE LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST IOWA WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
OBRIEN
Special weather statement, Sep 18, 11:42 PM CDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1045 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
   UNTIL 2 AM CDT...

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR WEST HALF OF IOWA TONIGHT...

..NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 1030 PM AND 1130 PM..
AT 1130 PM
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING IN SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTH
WEST IOWA. THE STRONGEST WERE LOCATED BETWEEN OTTUMWA AND LAKE RATHBUN.
OTHER STRONG STORMS STRETCHED FROM SHENANDOAH TO AFTON. SHENANDOAH IS
40 MILES SOUTH OF OMAHA WHILE AFTON IS 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES.

THUNDER AND RAINSHOWERS WERE LOCATED SOUTH OF THE SIOUX CITY...DES
MOINES...DUBUQUE LINE. RAINSHOWERS WERE ALSO OCCURRING IN NORTH CENTRAL
IOWA IN THE MASON CITY AREA.

MOST OF THE STORMS AND SHOWERS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
THOSE LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST IOWA WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.(
OBRIEN
Special weather statement, Sep 19, 12:46 AM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1245 AM CDT FRI SEP 19 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
   UNTIL 2 AM CDT...

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR WEST HALF OF IOWA TONIGHT...

..NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 1130 PM AND 1230 AM..
AT 1230 AM...
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING IN SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTH
WEST...AND A SMALL PART OF SOUTHEAST IOWA JUST SOUTH OF OTTUMWA.  THE
HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION WAS FALLING ALONG AND 20 MILES NORTH OF THE IOWA
/MISSOURI BORDER BETWEEN SHENANDOAH AND OTTUMWA.

THUNDER AND RAINSHOWERS WERE LOCATED SOUTH OF A SIOUX CITY...DES MOINES
...DU^BUQUE LINE.  RAINSHOWERS WERE ALSO OCCURRING IN NORTH EAST IOWA
NEAR CHARLES CITY...ABOUT 35 MILES EAST OF MASON CITY.

MOST OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.

SCOTT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 18, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass20 min
Sep 18, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair48 min
Sep 19, 8:06 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXLucas4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

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.