Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 8, 1986Henry County, Lee County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1986, 5:30 PM CDT for Henry County, Lee County, Iowa. It was in force for 30 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
May 8, 1986, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1986, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Henry County, IA, Lee 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
May 8, 5:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Henry, 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

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1986-05-08Temperature 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1986-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 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 KMLI 082230
SVRMLI
IAC087-111-082300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
530 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST IOWA...HENRY AND NORTHERN LEE

AT 525 PM CDT..RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SOUTH
OF HOUGHTON IOWA...21 MILES WEST OF BURLINGTON..MOVING
NORTHNORTHEAST 25 MPH.

 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND SOMETIMES DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
 WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING..SO BE ALERT.

 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:
 DAMAGING WINDS OF 58 MPH OR MORE..HAIL 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER OR
 LARGER. TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOWLAND AND
 URBAN FLOODING MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT INTENSE LIGHTNING. SEEK
 SHELTER IN A BUILDING OR CAR. IF OUTSIDE..DO NOT MAKE YOURSELF
 TALLER THAN YOUR SURROUNDINGS.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE.
ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR REPORT OF
SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

WIGGINS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, May 8, 5:10 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
505 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST IOWA...

AT 5 PM CDT...THE ADVANCING EDGE OF A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD REACHED INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST IOWA
FROM NORTH OF OTTUMWA TO KEOKUK.

THE STRONGEST WERE JUST WEST OF KEOKUK.

THE STORMS WERE PART OF A LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDER-
STORMS THAT COVERED MUCH OF SOUTHERN IOWA AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI.

THE STRONG STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHNORTHEAST ABOUT 25 MPH AND
ARE LIKELY TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL AND STRONG
WIND GUSTS.

WIGGINS

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.