Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 3, 1987Davis County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 1987, 4:14 PM CDT for Davis County, Iowa. It was in force for 61 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
Aug 3, 1987, 4:14 PM CDT (21:14 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1987, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Davis 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
Aug 3, 4:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Davis, 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 237 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 1987-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1310 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -5 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
1310 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1154 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-24 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 032114
SVRDSM
IAC007-051-032215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
414 PM CDT MON AUG 3 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST IOWA...
 EASTERN APPANOOSE AND DAVIS

AT 410 PM CDT NWS RADAR INDICATED TWO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...ONE
DEVELOPED OVER APPANOOSE COUNTY AND THE OTHER IN SOUTHERN WAPELLO
COUNTY.  THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH EASTERN APPANOOSE
AND ALL OF DAVIS COUNTIES IN THE NEXT HOUR.

TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE CENTERVILLE...MOULTON...AND
UNIONVILLE...ALL ABOUT 20 TO 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OTTUMWA.
ALSO IN DAVIS COUNTY THE TOWNS OF BLOOMFIELD...WEST GROVE AND
TROY...ALL ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF OTTMWA.

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 BEx PREPARED TO MOVE
TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF ONE IS SPOTTED.

KS/GF

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, Aug 3, 2:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
240 PM CDT MON AUG 3 1987

AT 230 PM...ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER THE FAR
EAST CENTRAL COUNTIES OF IOWA.  THE STORMS WERE JUST NORTH OF THE QUAD
CITIES AND ALSO AROUND DEWITT AND CLINTON.  IN ADDITION TO THE VERY
HEAVY RAINS...WINDS UP TO 50 MILES AN HOUR CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE
STORMS.

AROUND OTHER PARTS OF IOWA...A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS
STRETCHED FROM SOUTHWEST INTO NORTHEAST IOWA.  THE BAND WAS 75 MILES
WIDE AND EXTENDED FROM THE OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS AREAS THROUGH DES
MOINES TO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE.

ALL PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

KS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne43 min
Aug 3, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWapello59 min
Aug 3, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose31 min
Aug 3, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJefferson, Van Buren39 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.