Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 31, 1986Taylor County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 31, 1986, 12:05 AM CDT for Taylor County, Iowa. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 1986, 12:05 AM CDT (05:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1986, 12:45 AM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Taylor 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 1986-07-31Temperature 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 1986-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 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
3632 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 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 310505
TORDSM
IAC173-310600-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1205 AM CDT THU JUL 31 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHWEST IOWA...TAYLOR

AT 1202 AM..WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN DES MOINES INDICATED
A TORNADO IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY..ABOUT
15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF RED OAK OR 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
COUNCIL BLUFFS.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR..AND WILL
AFFECT THE CITIES OF BEDFORD..GRAVITY..AND NEW MARKET.

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 AUTOMOBILE..
LEAVE AT ONCE.  TAKE COVER IN A STORM SHELTER..OR LIE IN A NEARBY
DITCH OR DEPRESSION.

THIS APPEARS TO BE A VER:Y DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT TAKE
ANY CHANCES..IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE
COVER IMMEDIATELY.

FERRY/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 30, 6:35 PM CDT, 5 hours 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
635 PM CDT WED JUL 30 1986

..SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN IOWA UNTIL 10 PM CDT..

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 530 AND 630 PM.

AT 625 PM..
MOST OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS HAVE MOVED INTO NORTHEAST
MISSOURI.  ISOLATED SHOWERS REMAINED IN SOUTHEAST IOWA.  THESE
SHOWERS WERE LOCATED NEAR BLOOMFIELD AND JUST WEST OF BUhRLINGTON.
THE SHOWERS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

AN ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWER HAD JUST DEVELOPED OVER NORTHEAST IOWA..
NEAR DECORAH.  THE MOVEMENT OF THIS THUNDERSHOWER HAS NOT BEEN
DETERMINED.

FERRY
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 7:38 PM CDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
735 PM CDT WED JUL 30 1986

..SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN IOWA UNTIL 10 PM CDT..

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 630 AND 730 PM.

AT 725 PM..
ONLY AN ISOLATED SHOWER REMAINED IN SOUTHEAST IOWA..IT WAS JUST
SOUTH OF KEOSAUQUA. THIS SHOWER WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

AN ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWER WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHEAST IOWA JUST EAST
OF DECORAH.  AN ISOLATED SHOWER WAS ALSO INDICATED IN THIS PART OF THE
STATE SOUTH OF CHARLES CITY.  THE SHOWER AND THUNDERSHOWER WERE MOVING
EAST AT JUST 5 MILES AN HOUR.

FERRY
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 8:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before
<PQ<
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
800 PM CDT WED JUL 30 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NUMBER 434 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR...

PORTIONS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA
SOUTHERN IOWA
A SMALL PORTION OF NORTHEAST KANSAS
PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN MISSOURI

SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS COULD STILL OCCUR OVER PARTS OF SOUTHERN AND
EASTERN IOWA BUT AT THE PRESENT TIME NONE ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER MAY STILL EXIST FOR PARTS OF EASTERN
IOWA LATER TONIGHT.  THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN
KANSAS CITY WILL DETERMINE THIS AFTER A LOOK AT THE NEW EVENING WEATHER
INFORMATION.

YOU SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS DURING THE
NIGHTTIME HOURS.

ADAMS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 11:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass37 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.