Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 28, 1986Buena Vista County, Pocahontas County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1986, 7:57 PM CDT for Buena Vista County, Pocahontas County, Iowa. It was in force for 58 min. 7 reports 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, 7:57 PM CDT (00:57 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1986, 8:55 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Buena Vista County, IA, Pocahontas 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, 8:03 PM CDTHail 2.75Buena Vista, IA
Jul 28, 8:15 PM CDTHail 1Pocahontas, IA
Jul 28, 8:15 PM CDTHail 1Pocahontas, IA
Jul 28, 8:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Buena Vista, IA
Jul 28, 8:29 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Buena Vista, IA
Jul 28, 8:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Pocahontas, IA
Jul 28, 8:53 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Pocahontas, 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, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 198 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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 28, 5:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 22 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, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClay63 min
Jul 28, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXClay32 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

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.