Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 28, 1986Dickinson County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 28, 1986, 5:33 AM CDT for Dickinson County, Iowa. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 28, 1986, 5:33 AM CDT (10:33 UTC)
Expired
Jun 28, 1986, 6:10 AM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Dickinson 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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 205 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1986-06-28Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1986-06-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
1894 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
13 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 281033
SVRDSM
IAC059-281110-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
533 AM CDT SAT JUN 28 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 610 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST IOWA...DICKINSON

AT 525 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVER THUNDERSTORM IN THE
NORTHWEST PART OF DICKINSON COUNTY IN EXTREME NORTHWEST IOWA.
THIS IS ABOUT 15 TO 20 MILES NORTH OF SPENCER.

THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR..AND WILL
AFFECT THE IOWA GREAT LAKES AREA AND THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF
DICKINSON COUNTY BETWEEN 530 AND 610 AM CDT.

REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERS&TORM CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH..LARGE HAIL..DEADLY LIGHTNING..AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN
QUICKLY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS.  PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IMMEDIATELY.

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, Jun 28, 3:09 AM CDT, 2 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
305 AM CDT FRI JUN 27 1986

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHWEST IOWA.  THE STORM
WAS LOCATED OVER EMMET COUNTY..JUST SOUTH OF ESTHERVILLE AT 300 AM.
THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY WINDS..AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.  WINDS OF 34 MILES AN HOUR WERE REPORTED WEST OF SPIRIT
LAKE AS THE STORM MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES A HOUR AND WILL MOVE
THOUGH THE EMMETSBURG AREA BY AROUND 330 AM THIS MORNING.

WIND GUSTS OF UP TO 40 MILES AN HOUR..VERY HEAVY RAIN..AND CONSIDERABLE
LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STORMS PASSAGE.

SCHUMACHER
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 3:12 AM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION TO TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
305 AM CDT SAT JUN 28 1986

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHWEST IOWA.  THE STORM
WAS LOCATED OVER EMMET COUNTY..JUST SOUTH OF ESTHERVILLE AT 300 AM.
THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY WINDS..AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.  WINDS OF 34 MILES AN HOUR WERE REPORTED WEST OF SPIRIT
LAKE AS THE STORM MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES A HOUR AND WILL MOVE
THOUGH THE EMMETSBURG AREA BY AROUND 330 AM THIS MORNING.

WIND GUSTS OF UP TO 40 MILES AN HOUR..VERY HEAVY RAIN..AND CONSIDERABLE
LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STORMS PASSAGE.

SCHUMACHER
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 3:38 AM CDT, 1 hour 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
334 AM CDT SAT JUN 28 1986

AT 330 AM CDT...
A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH CENTRAL IOWA..ABOUT
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 4:08 AM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
407 AM CDT SAT JUN 28 1986

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH CENTRAL IOWA.  IT
WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHERN KOSSUTH COUNTY..EXTENDING INTO NORTHERN
HUMBOLDT COUNTY.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE
INTO THE EAGLE GROVE AND CLARION AREAS BETWEEN 415 AND 515 AM THIS
MORNING.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY
WINDS TO AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

SCHUMACHER
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 5:20 AM CDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
515 AM CDT SAT JUN 28 1986

AT 515 AM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST
AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA..MAINLY OVER DICKINSON..EMMET..AND KOSSUTH
COUNTIES.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.  NO SEVERE
WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED THROUGH 515AM..HOWEVER..THEY WERE PRODUCING
BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAINS..SMALL HAIL..AND WIND GUSTS TO 30 TO 40 MILES
AND HOUR IN SOME PLACES.

ELLINGSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 28, 8:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth49 min
Jun 28, 9:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock59 min
Jun 28, 12:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion22 min
Jun 28, 12:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska47 min
Jun 28, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMonroe, Wapello33 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.