Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 4, 1986Greene County, Guthrie County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1986, 6:42 PM CST for Greene County, Guthrie County, Iowa. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 4, 1986, 6:42 PM CST (00:42 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1986, 7:30 PM CST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Greene County, IA, Guthrie 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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 1986-04-05Temperature 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 1986-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3507 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 050043
SVRDSM
IAC077-073-050130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
642 PM CST FRI APR 4 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF


WEST CENTRAL IOWA...NORTHERN GUTHRIE AND SOUTHERN GREENE

CITES OF BAYARD AND BAGLEY WHICH ARE 50 MILES NORTHWEST OF
DES MOINES.

AT 635 PM..RADAR SHOWED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHERN
GUTHRIE COUNTY.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH..LARGE HAIL..DEADLY LIGHTNING..AND HEAVY RAINS THAT ,CAN
QUICKLY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS.

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.

MCQUIRTER

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 4, 2:34 PM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
235 PM CST FRI APR 4 1986

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN IOWA UNTIL 8PM...

AT 230 PM...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN IOWA.  THERE
WERE A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS IN THE WEST-CENTRAL PART OF
THE STATE..FROM 30 MILES EAST OF SIOUX CITY..TO 35 MILES NORTHEAST
OF COUNCIL BLUFFS.  THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSHOWER WAS LOCATED IN SHELBY
COUNTY NEAR HARLAN.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

BINGHAM
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 3:43 PM CST, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
340 PM CST FRI APR 4 1986

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN IOWA UNTIL 8PM...

AT 330 PM...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN IOWA.  SHOWERS
AND ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWERS..SOME WITH HEAVY RAINS..WERE DEVELOPING
OVER THE WEST 1/3RD OF IOWA.  THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSHOWERS WERE IN
WEST CENTRAL IOWA..IN THE CARROLL AND DENNISON AREAS.

THEe SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 35 MILES AN
HOUR.  COVERAGE AND INTENSITY HAD SHOWN SOME INCREASE.

BINGHAM/BARLOW
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 5:45 PM CST, 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
545 PM CST FRI APR 4 1986

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN IOWA UNTIL 8PM...

AT 535 PM...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN IOWA.  HOWEVER..
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER PARTS
OF NORTHWEST..CENTRAL..AND SOUTH-CENTRAL IOWA.

HEAVIEST THUNDERSHOWERS WERE LOCATED IN NORTHWEST IOWA ABOUT 40 MILES
WEST OF FORT DODGE NEAR SAC CITY.  ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE
LOCATED IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI.  THESE STORMS WILL ENTER SOUTHEAST
IOWA BY 6PM.

MOVEMENT OF ALL SHOWERS AND STORMS WAS NORTH AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
COVERAGE AND INTENSITY WAS DECREASING ACROSS WESTERN IOWA.

BINGHAM
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 6:17 PM CST, 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
617 PM CST FRI APR 4 1986

AT 602 PM..GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED SOUTHWEST OF LIBERTYVILLE
IN JEFFERSON COUNTY ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OTTUMWA BY CITIZEN.

AT 610 PM CST..RADAR SHOWED RAPID DECREASE INTENSITY.  THE STORM
HAD WEAKEN CONSIDERABLY SINCE 6PM.

PERSON IN JEFFERSON COUNTY CAN EXPECTED SMALL HAIL..BRIEF HEAVY RAIN
AND GUSTY WINDS.

MCQUIRTER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 7:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Greene41 min
Apr 4, 7:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster25 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1986Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.