Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 26, 1986Crawford County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 26, 1986, 8:45 PM CST for Crawford County, Iowa. It was in force for 25 min. 1 report 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: Apr 26, 1986, 8:45 PM CST (02:45 UTC)
Expired: Apr 26, 1986, 9:10 PM CST
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Whole counties

County Crawford County, IA

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 26, 9:05 PM CST	Tornado F0	Crawford, IA

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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 114 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 3558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 291 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 270249
SVRDSM
IAC047-270245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
845 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 910 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

WEST CENTRAL IOWA...EXTREME NORTHWEST CRAWFORD

AT 845 PM CST A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN NORTHWESTERN
CRAWFORD COUNTY MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.

THE HISTORY OF THIS STORM INDICATED HAIL OF ONE TO TWO INCHES IN
SIZE.

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE CITY OF RICKETTS IN EXTREME NORTHWEST
CRAWFORD COUNTY.

THESE STORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE
OR NO ADVANCE WARNING..SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE
TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF ONE IS SPOTTED.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY.  IF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITONS ARE OBSERVED..PLEASE ASK
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

BARLOW/FORSTER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Apr 26, 4:08 PM CST, 4 hours 37 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
407 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

     ...TORNADO WATCH TIL 9 PM FOR EXTREME WESTERN IOWA...

AT 345..
THERE WERE NO SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTO4RMS IN IOWA..HOWEVER RAPID
SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WAS NOTED ACROSS EASTERN
NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

BARLOW

Special weather statement, Apr 26, 4:37 PM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
435 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

     ...TORNADO WATCH TIL 9 PM FOR EXTREME WESTERN IOWA...

AT 435..
THERE WERE NO SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTOZRMS IN IOWA..HOWEVER SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND
SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

BARLOW

Special weather statement, Apr 26, 5:44 PM CST, 3 hours 1 minute before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
543 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

     ...TORNADO WATCH TIL 9 PM FOR EXTREME WESTERN IOWA...

AT 535..
THERE WERE NO SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS IN IOWA..HOWEVER POWERFULL
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED RUMBLE ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST
SOUTH DAKOTA.  TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE
NORFOLK NEBRASKA AREA..WHILE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS HAVE
BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

IT APPEARS NOW THAT THESE STORMS WILL REMAIN JUST EAST OF THE
IOWA BORDER.

BARLOW

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 26, 8:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Crawford	33 min
Apr 26, 8:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Sac	34 min
Apr 26, 9:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Sac	30 min
Apr 26, 9:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Sac	45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1986 Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.