Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 8, 1986Polk County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1986, 4:44 PM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 36 min. 2 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: May 8, 1986, 4:44 PM CDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 1986, 5:20 PM CDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Whole counties

County Polk 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
May 8, 5:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Polk, IA
May 8, 5:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 65	Polk, 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 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 236 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 3612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 93 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 082153
TORDSM
IAC153-082230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
444 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

CENTRAL IOWA...POLK

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE GREATER DES MOINES AREA.

AT 438 PM..A TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN NEAR SOUTHEAST POLK
HIGH SCHOOL..ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF ALTOONA.

IN ADDITION..WEATHER RADAR INDICATES SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
INTO SOUTHERN POLK COUNTY..AND SOUTHERN DES MOINES..FROM NORTHERN
WARREN COUNTY.
<
THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

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.

TRUETT/KS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 3:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Appanoose, Davis	45 min
May 8, 3:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Decatur, Wayne	45 min
May 8, 3:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Lucas, Monroe	42 min
May 8, 4:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Marion	44 min
May 8, 4:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Madison	28 min
May 8, 4:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Warren	32 min
May 8, 5:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Jasper	16 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes 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.