Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 9, 1986Ringgold County, Taylor County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1986, 10:08 PM CDT for Ringgold County, Taylor County, Iowa. It was in force for 22 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 9, 1986, 10:08 PM CDT (03:08 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1986, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ringgold County, IA, Taylor 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, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 172 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 1986-05-10Temperature 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 1986-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 100311
SVRDSM
IAC159-173-100340-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1008 PM CDT FRI MAY 9 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1040 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA...WESTERN RINGGOLD AND EASTERN TAYLOR

AT 1008 PM..DES MOINES WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME SOUTHERN IOWA..ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF LAMONI
OR ABOUT 80 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE BEDFORD..BLOCKTON..BENTON..
DIAGONAL..AND LENOX.
<
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.

KS/TRUETT

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, 6:47 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 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
Special weather statement, May 9, 9:53 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
947 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 IOWA BETWEEN 845 AND 945 PM CDT

AT 935 PM CDT...
NUMEROUS VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER CENTRAL IOWA.  THE
MOST INTENSE STORMS WERE LOCATED IN AN 20 MILE WIDE AREA EXTENDING
FROM 25 MILES NORTHEAST TO 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES.  OTHER
VERY STRONG STORMS WERE LOCATED JUST WEST OF DES MOINES..AND NEAR
GUTHRIE CENTER..ABOUT 40 MILES WEST OF DES MOINES.  THESE STORMS
WILL PRODUCE CONSIDERABLE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

THE VERY STRONG STORMS WERE PART OF A LARGER AREA OF WIDLEY SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS THAT CONTINUED OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA.
THE STRONGEST OF THESE WERE WEST AND SOUTHWEST OF FORT DODGE..AND ABOUT
25 MILES WEST OF LAMONI.  THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE SOME SMALL
HAIL.

THE STORMS WERE ALL MOVING NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

SCHUMACHER/SIECZYNSKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Polk21 min
May 9, 7:15 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas, Polk30 min
May 9, 7:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas, Polk30 min
May 9, 7:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster37 min
May 9, 7:58 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWebster32 min
May 9, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas, Polk44 min
May 9, 8:29 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXDallas, Polk3 hr
May 9, 8:47 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBoone43 min
May 9, 9:02 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas, Polk28 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.