Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 25, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Sep 26, 1986, 8:17 PM CDT for Hamilton County, Hardin County, Iowa. It was in force for 28 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 26, 1986, 8:17 PM CDT (01:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 26, 1986, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hamilton County, IA, Hardin 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 267 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
- 3558 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 157 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 270118 TORDSM IAC079-083-270145- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 817 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF CENTRAL IOWA...EASTERN HAMILTON AND HARDIN NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT DES MOINES REVEALED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN EASTERN HAMILTON COUNTY...IN THE VICINITY OF JEWELL ...AT 712 PM CDT. JEWELL IS LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT DODGE. AT 807 PM DIME SIZE HAIL OCCURRED AT JEWELL AND ELLSWORTH. THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS AND CITIES OF JEWELL...ELLSWORTH AND RADCLIFFE. 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. DOWD/CW/DLF
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, Sep 26, 5:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 540 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 1986 AT 530 PM A LINE OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WAS INDICATED FROM WEST CENTRAL INTO NORTHWEST IOWA. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF COUNCIL BLUFFS NEAR ATLANTIC TO 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF FORT DODGE. INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LINE. THEY WERE LOCATED 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CARROLL AND 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF FORT DODGE. BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE FROM THESE INTENSE STORMS. ALL OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. FERRY
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 6:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 625 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 1986 AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL...HEAVY RAINS AND WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH WAS OVER CENTRAL GREEN COUNTY AT 620 PM. GREEN COUNTY IS 50 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO THE DANA AND PATON AREA IN NORTHEAST JEFFERSON COUNTY BETWEEN 630 PM AND 650 PM. AT 620 PM PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL OCCURRED AT JEFFERSON. WEINBRECHT
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 6:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 643 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 1986 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF IOWA UNTIL MIDNIGHT... NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED BETWEEN 530 AND 630 PM. AT 630 PM... INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR JEFFERSON...45 MILES NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES AND NEAR BELMOND...25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY. THESE STORMS WERE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN...PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING. THESE STORMS WERE PART OF A 30 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS AND STORMS THAT STRETCHED FROM SOUTHWEST IOWA NEAR SHENANDOAH...NORTHEAST TO THE MINNESOTA BORDER NEAR BUFFALO CENTER. THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. < BARLOW/FERRY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 7:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Cerro Gordo, Hancock | 54 min |
| Sep 26, 8:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Hamilton, Hardin | 28 min |
| Sep 26, 8:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Webster, Wright | 23 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.