Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 14, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1986, 10:31 PM CDT for Decatur County, Iowa. It was in force for 29 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 8, 1986, 10:31 PM CDT (03:31 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 8, 1986, 11:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Decatur 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 10:45 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Decatur, 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, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 226 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
- 3591 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 68 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 105 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KDSM 090337 COR TORDSM IAC053-090400- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING ..CORRECTION FOR DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT.. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 1035 PM CDT TUE JUL 8 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA...SOUTHWEST DECATUR A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT APPROXIMATELY 1015 PM CDT 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAMONIA..WHICH IS ABOUT 60 MILES SOUTH OF DES MOINES. WEATHER RADAR FROM THE WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES CONTINUED TO SHOW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA AT 1025 PM CDT..MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF LAMONI AND DAVIS CITY. IF A TORNADO APPROACHES..TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. A BASEMENT.. INTERIOR HALLWAY..OR A ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IS THE SAFEST PLACE IN MOST BUILDINGS. IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME OR AN AUTOeMOBILE.. LEAVE AT ONCE. TAKE COVER IN A STORM SHELTER..OR LIE IN A NEARBY DITCH OR DEPRESSION. DOWD/TRUETT
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 8, 4:42 PM CDT, 5 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 438 PM CDT TUE JUL 8 1986 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA UNTIL 7PM THIS EVENING. NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 335 AND 435 PM CDT. AT 434 PM CDT... VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER NORTH CENTRAL..NORTHWEST AND PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL IOWA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE IN A 20 MILE WIDE AREA EXTENDING FROM 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SIOUX CITY..TO NEAR SPENCER..THEN EAST TO JUST NORTH OF MASON CITY. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. ELSEWHERE..A FEW THUNDERSHOWERS HAD DEVELOPED OVER EAST CENTRAL IOWA. THEY WERE IN AND JUST NORTH OF CEDAR RAPIDS. THE STORMS WERE ALL MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. BOTH AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY WERE INCREASING. SCHUMACHER
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 8:58 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 855 PM CDT TUE JUL 8 1986 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN TWO-THIRDS OF IOWA UNTIL 12 MIDNIGHT. NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 730 PM AND 845 PM THIS EVENING. AT 850 PM CDT... THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE IN EASTERN IOWA..IN A NARROW LINE FROM 40 MILES EAST OF DES MOINES TO NEAR THE QUAD CITIES. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA..THE STORMS WERE IN A LINE THAT STRETCHED FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES TO JUST SOUTH OF COUNCIL BLUFFS. THESE STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. IN ADDITION..SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE OVER NORTHEAST IOWA. TRUETT/SCHUMACHER
Local storm report, Jul 8, 10:22 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA 1021 PM CDT TUE JUL 8 1986 625 PM CDT 3/4 INCH HAIL AT DUNKERTON IN BLACK HAWK COUNTY. 630 PM CDT GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL 6 MILES EAST OF WATERLOO AIURPORT. 645 PM CDT 8 INCH TREE LIMB DOWN ON STATE STREET IN CEDAR FALLS. 650 PM CDT TREE LIMBS DOWN ON JEFFERSON STREET IN WATERLOO. 755 PM CDT 2.6 INCHES OF RAIN IN JANESVILLE. 800 PM CDT 1.38 INCHES OF RAIN IN DENVER. GOODSON
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 7:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Audubon | 37 min |
| Jul 8, 7:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Guthrie | 36 min |
| Jul 8, 8:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Poweshiek | 22 min |
| Jul 8, 9:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Poweshiek | 25 min |
| Jul 8, 9:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Ringgold, Taylor | 26 min |
| Jul 8, 10:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Appanoose, Monroe | 30 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.