Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 28, 1986Dickinson County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1986, 6:58 PM CDT for Dickinson County, Iowa. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 28, 1986, 6:58 PM CDT (23:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1986, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
62 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 12:00Z, 12.0 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 12:00Z on 1986-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 148 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1986-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
148 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-170 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
575 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 282359
SVRDSM
IAC059-290100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
658 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST IOWA...DICKINSON

AT 655 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO DICKINSON COUNTY FROM THE NORTHWEST AT
35 MILES AN HOUR.  WHILE THE STORM IS RATHER DISTANT..IT APPEARS
TO BE QUITE INTENSE.

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF MILFORD AND SPIRIT LAKE..AS
WELL AS THE IOWA GREAT LAKES REGION..LOCATED ABOUT 80 MILES
NORTHWEST OF FORT DODGE.

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.  ALSO..SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND
SOMETIMES DO PRODUCE TORNADOES..SO BE ALERT TO THAT{ POSSIBILITY.

IF SEVERE WEATHER OCCURS IN YOUR AREA..AND YOU HAVE TIME TO REPORT
IT..CALL YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK THAT YOUR
REPORT BE RELAYED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

DOWD/BARLOW

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, Jul 28, 5:35 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
535 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

..A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF WESTERN IOWA
UNTIL 11 PM..

AT 530 PM CDT..NO PRECIPITATION WAS OCCURRING IN IOWA..HOWEVER
VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING OVER WESTERN
MINNESOTA..NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR A"ND
SHOULD BE ENTERING NORTHWEST IOWA AROUND 7 PM THIS EVENING.

BARLOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHoward, Winneshiek48 min
Jul 27, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAllamakee48 min
Jul 27, 8:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFloyd62 min
Jul 27, 9:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer, Chickasaw58 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.