Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1986, 7:09 PM CDT for Dallas County, Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 21 min. 4 reports 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
- May 9, 1986, 7:09 PM CDT (00:09 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1986, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 21 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Dallas County, IA, Polk 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:20 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Polk, IA | |
| May 9, 7:36 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Dallas, IA | |
| May 9, 7:36 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Polk, IA | |
| May 9, 7:40 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Dallas, 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 217 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3570 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 72 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 110 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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 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, May 9, 2:21 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA 215 PM CDT FRI MAY 9 1986 AT 215 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT WATERLOO, IOWA SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS IN NORTHEAST IOWA. THEY WERE IN A 50 MILE WIDE BAND FROM TRAER..20 MILES SOUTH OF WATERLOO..THEN NORTH TO THE MINNESOTA BORDER SOUTH OF ROCHESTER. THESE THUNDERSHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTH AROUND 25 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN NORTHEAST IOWA CAN E6XPECT THESE THUNDERSHOWERS TO PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SOME GUSTY WINDS. UNSTABLE AIR REMAINS OVER MUCH OF IOWA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING..THUS THUNDERSTORM REDEVELOPEMENT IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ROBB
Local storm report, May 9, 4:01 PM CDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before
SEVERE LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
400 PM CDT FRI MAY 9 1986
ADDITIONAL STORM REPORTS FROM THE SEVERE WEATHER ON MAY 8 1986
330 PM CDT...LARGE BUILDING BEING CONSTRUCTED JUST WEST OF LAKE RATHBUN
IN APPANOOSE COUNTY WAS DESTROYED BY WIND.
350 PM CDT...SHERIFF OF MONROE COUNTY SAID TORNADO ORIGINALLY REPORTED
2 MILES SOUTH IF ALBIA THAT TOOK ROOF OFF BUILDING WAS WIND
DAMAGE.
403 PM CDT...LUCAS COUNTY SHERIFF SAID LIGHT POLES AND TREES WERE BLOWN
DOWN NEAR THE TOWN OF RUSSELL WHICH IS 7 MILES EAST OF
CHARITON.
435 PM CDT...ROOF BLOWN OFF MACHINE SHED 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KNOXVILLE..
IN MARION COUNTY. REPORT FROM COUNTY SHERIFF.
435 PM CDT...2 LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN ON HOUSE AND BROKE POWER LINES IN
CARLISLE..JUST SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES. REPORT FROM NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEE.
438 PM CDT...MARION COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED SEVERAL TREES AND LARGE TREE
LIMBS DOWN.
440 PM CDT...MARION COUNTY..PELLA POLICE REPORTED SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
LINES DOWN.
ADAMSSpecial weather statement, May 9, 6:47 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 647 PM CDT FRI MAY 9 1986 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF IOWA UNTIL MIDNIGHT... NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN THE STATE BETWEEN 545 AND 645 PM CDT AT 631 PM CDT... VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER CENTRAL IOWA. THE MOST INTENSE STORMS WERE LOCATED ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHEAST AND 10 MILES EAST OF DES MOINES. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. MEANWHILE..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO IOWAS SOUTH CENTRAL COUNTIES BETWEEN LAMONI AND CENTERVILLE. IN ADDITION..WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS DOT THE NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST COUNTIES OF THE STATE. \ ALL OF THE RAIN WAS MOVING NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. SCHUMACHER/SIECZYNSKI
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Dallas, Polk | 30 min |
| May 9, 7:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Dallas, Polk | 30 min |
| May 9, 7:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Webster | 37 min |
| May 9, 7:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Webster | 32 min |
| May 9, 8:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Dallas, Polk | 44 min |
| May 9, 8:29 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DMX | Dallas, Polk | 3 hr |
| May 9, 8:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Boone | 43 min |
| May 9, 9:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Dallas, Polk | 28 min |
| May 9, 10:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Ringgold, Taylor | 22 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.