Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 24, 1987Webster County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 24, 1987, 6:40 PM CDT for Webster County, Iowa. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 24, 1987, 6:40 PM CDT (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 1987, 7:10 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Webster 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 219 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 12:00Z on 1987-07-24Temperature 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1987-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 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 242340
SVRDSM
IAC187-250030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
640 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

CENTRAL IOWA...
 SOUTHERN WEBSTER

AT 635 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AS INDICTAED BY
RADAR WAS LOCATED WEST OF GOWRIE IOWA JUST 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
FORT DODGE.  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE GOWRIE...HARCOURT AND
DAYTON.

REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH..LARGE HAIL..DEADLY LIGHTNING..AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN
QUICKLY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS.  PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IMMEDIATELY.

THESE STORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE
OR NO ADVANCE WARNING..SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE
TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF ONE IS SPOTTED.

FORSTER/KS

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, Jul 24, 3:38 PM CDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
435 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST IOWA UNTIL
8 PM THIS EVENING...

AT 425 PM...SHOWERS HAD ENTERED NORTHWEST IOWA...JUST NORTH OF SIOUX
CITY.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN TO THE WEST OF IOWA AT THIS TIME.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

KS
Special weather statement, Jul 24, 4:38 PM CDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
535 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST IOWA UNTIL
8 PM THIS EVENING...

AT 530 PM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS CONTINUED TO SPREAD INTO
NORTHWEST IOWA.  ALL RAINFALL WAS NORTH AND WEST OF A SIOUX CITY/
IOWA GREAT LAKES LINE.

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE 70 MILES WEST OF THE IOWA/NEBRASKA
BORDER.

THE SHOWERS A&ND STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

KS
Special weather statement, Jul 24, 5:39 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
535 PM CDT FRI JUL 24 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST IOWA UNTIL
8 PM THIS EVENING...

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IOWA IN BETWEEN 435 - 535 PM.

AT 530 PM...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN
NORTHWEST IOWA.  ALL RAINFALL WAS NORTHWEST OF A CARROLL/FORT DODGE
LINE.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS BETWEEN IDA GROVE AND HOLSTEIN...50 MILES
EAST OF SIOUX CITY.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR ROCKWELL CITY
AND LAKE VIEW...80 MILES EAST OF SIOUX CITY.

STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN TO THE WEST OF IOWA...IN NORTHEAST
NEBRASKA.
/
THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

KS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Carroll, Greene60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.