Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 28, 1986Cherokee County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1986, 8:18 PM CDT for Cherokee County, Iowa. It was in force for 47 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
Jul 28, 1986, 8:18 PM CDT (01:18 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1986, 9:05 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee 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, 8:23 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 69Cherokee, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 169 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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 28, 2:43 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HURON SD
240 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

AT 230 PM CDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN..AND AN ISOLATED INTENSE STORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN..
CONTINUED JUST SOUTH OF THE SOUTH DAKOTA..NORTH DAKOTA BORDER.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS 40 MILES EAST OF MOBRIDGE..
NEAR HOSMER.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS PART OF A LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS..WHICH EXTENDED FROM NEAR MOBRIDGE..
TO NEAR THE BORDER INTERSECTION OF SOUTH DAKOTA..
NORTH DAKOTA..AND MINNESOTA.

SMALL HAIL..GUSTY WINDS..AND VERY HEAVY RAINS ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THESE STORMS.

ALSO..SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE BEGINNING
TO DEVELOP OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN
SOUTH DAKOTA.

IN CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA..THESE WERE FROM 30 MILES NORTH
OF PIERRE..TO 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PIERRE.  THESE STORMS
COULD ALSO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL..GUSTY WINDS..AND HEAVY RAINS.
PERSONS IN RECREATION AREAS ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER
SHOULD BE AWARE OF CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS
AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE PROTECTIVE ACTIONS.

IN NORTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA..AN ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWER
WAS JUST NORTHWEST OF WATERTOWN.

ALL MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jul 28, 5:23 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
523 PM CDT MON JUL 28 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING LINCOLN COUNTY MINNESOTA AND EXTREME
NORTHEAST BROOKINGS COUNTY SOUTH DAKOTA TIL 545 PM CDT...

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING BRULE AND AURORA COUNTIES SOUTH DAKOTA
TIL 545 PM CDT...

AT 458 PM CDT A POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED NEAR KIMBALL SOUTH
DAKOTA WHICH DISSIPATED BY 505 PM CDT.

AT 501 PM CDT MARBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR IVANHOE MINNESOTA.

AT 511 PM CDT GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND 55 TO 60 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED
AT KIMBALL SOUTH DAKOTA.

AT 517 PM RADAR SHOWED THE CENTERS OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT
35 MILES WEST OF MITCHELL AND 25 MILES EAST OF BROOKINGS. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST ABOUT 25 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...
CONSIDERABLE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. PERSONS
NEAR AND TO THE SOUTHEAST OF nTHESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PREPARED
FOR THIS ADVERSE WEATHER AND MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE IF NECESSARY.
BLOOM

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, 7:43 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDO'Brien62 min
Jul 28, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDSioux58 min
Jul 28, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDMonona, Woodbury27 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.