Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 96, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 28, 1986Clay County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1986, 7:07 PM CDT for Clay County, Iowa. It was in force for 63 min. 1 report 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
Jul 28, 1986, 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1986, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Clay 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 28, 7:35 PM CDTTornado F1Clay, 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 220 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 1986-07-29Temperature 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 1986-07-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
3613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 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 290008
SVRDSM
IAC041-290110-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 810 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST IOWA...CLAY

AT 705 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN DES MOINES INDICATED A
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BEARING DOWN ON CLAY COUNTY.  THIS STORM
WAS MOVING FROM THE NORTHWEST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE CITY OF SPENCER..LOCATED ABOUT 65 MILES
NORTHWEST OF FORT DODGE.

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.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY.  IF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE OBSERVED..PLEASE ASK
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR REPORT 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 32 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 28, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXClay32 min
Jul 28, 7:57 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBuena Vista, Pocahontas58 min
Jul 28, 8:07 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBuena Vista48 min
Jul 28, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Pocahontas, Webster64 min
Jul 28, 9:10 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCrawford20 min
Jul 28, 9:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Greene58 min
Jul 28, 9:34 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford56 min
Jul 28, 9:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie42 min
Jul 28, 9:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Dallas, Hamilton42 min
Jul 28, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk, Story46 min
Jul 28, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMadison46 min
Jul 28, 10:27 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXJasper, Polk53 min
Jul 28, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWarren49 min
Jul 28, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall49 min
Jul 28, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion54 min
Jul 28, 10:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClarke, Lucas46 min
Jul 28, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Monroe44 min
Jul 28, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPoweshiek44 min
Jul 28, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair98 min
Jul 28, 11:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdair, Union97 min
Jul 28, 11:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKeokuk, Wapello43 min
Jul 28, 11:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose, Davis43 min
Jul 29, 12:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJefferson, Van Buren50 min
Jul 29, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur, Wayne55 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.