Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 19, 1987, 8:24 PM CDT for Decatur County, Iowa. It was in force for 66 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 19, 1987, 8:24 PM CDT (01:24 UTC)
- Expired
- May 19, 1987, 9:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Decatur 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 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 226 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3590 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 24 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 82 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KDSM 200124 RRA SVRDSM IAC159-053-200230- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 824 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA... EASTERN RINGGOLD AND SOUTHWEST DECATUR AT 820 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AT MOUNT AYR ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAMONI...IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THE CITIES OF MOUNT AYR...LAMONI...AND LEON ARE INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING. 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. CORBETT
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 19, 5:07 PM CDT, 3 hours 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 440 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987 AT 430 PM...ISOLATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST IOWA...BETWEEN SHENANDOAH...AND SOUTH OF CORNING. THESE STORM WERE LOCATED ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OMAHA. THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND SOME HAIL. MOVEMENT AND SPEED OF THESE STORMS HAS YET BEEN DETERMINED. MCQUIRjTER
Special weather statement, May 19, 7:34 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 732 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST IOWA UNTIL MIDNIGHT... ...NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN IOWA BETWEEN 630 AND 730 PM... AT 725 PM...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. ONE STORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF HARLAN... 70 MILES WEST OF DES MOINES. THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. THE SECOND INTENSE STORM WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST IOWA NEAR THE CITY OF LENOX 55 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES. THIS STORM IS ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS. THESE STORMS WERE PART OF A MUCH LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS THAT COVERED THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF IOWAS COUNTIES. THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR... THERE ^HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE IN INTENSITY BUT AN INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE. BARLOW/GOODSON
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 8:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Guthrie | 35 min |
| May 19, 8:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Ringgold | 46 min |
| May 20, 3:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Union | 33 min |
| May 20, 3:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Decatur | 30 min |
| May 20, 4:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Linn | 41 min |
| May 20, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Mahaska | 41 min |
| May 20, 6:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Black Hawk | 20 min |
| May 20, 6:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Bremer | 40 min |
| May 20, 6:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Bremer | 60 min |
| May 20, 6:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Tama | 19 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.