Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 28, 1986O'Brien County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1986, 7:43 PM CDT for O'Brien County, Iowa. It was in force for 62 min. 3 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, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1986, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

County O'Brien 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, 8:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52O'Brien, IA
Jul 28, 8:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52O'Brien, IA
Jul 28, 8:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61O'Brien, 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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 206 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°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

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KSUX 290043 RRA
TORSUX
IAC141-290145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX-CITY IA
743 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTHWEST IOWA
          ..OBRIEN

 
 
AT 738 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 55 MILES NORTHEAST
OF SIOUX CITY...JUST SOUTH OF SHELDON IOWA.
 
THE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT, SEEK SHELTER IN THE INNERMOST
PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO A BASEMENT
IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM
FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS, BLANKETS OR PILLOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDOsceola57 min
Jul 28, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon57 min
Jul 28, 7:16 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDSioux29 min
Jul 28, 7:22 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDWoodbury38 min
Jul 28, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDO'Brien61 min
Jul 28, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDSioux58 min
Jul 28, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDMonona, Woodbury27 min
Jul 28, 8:18 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDCherokee47 min
Jul 28, 8:34 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDMonona26 min
Jul 28, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDMonona58 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.