Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 76, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 6, 1987Buchanan County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 6, 1987, 3:25 PM CDT for Buchanan County, Iowa. It was in force for 50 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 6, 1987, 3:25 PM CDT (20:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 1987, 4:15 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Buchanan 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 6, 3:39 PM CDTHail 0.75Buchanan, 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 273 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 1987-07-06Temperature 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1987-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 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 KALO 062025
SVRALO
IAC019-062115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
325 PM CDT MON JUL 6 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST IOWA
          ...SOUTHWESTERN BUCHANAN
 
AT 325PM WEATHER RADAR AT WATERLOO INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST BLACK HAWK COUNTY IN IOWA THIS STORM WILL
PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS AS IT MOVES INTO BUCHANAN
COUNTY.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 6, 9:44 AM CDT, 5 hours 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
944 AM CDT MON JUL 6 1987

AT 935 AM CDT...
A SMALL CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST
AND EAST CENTRAL IOWA...BETWEEN WATERLOO...CEDAR RAPIDS AND TAMA.
THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF
WATERLOO AND 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF CEDAR RAPIDS. THESE STORMS WERE
PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND COULD STILL PRODUCzE SOME SMALL
HAIL ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS.

ELSEWHERE SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED OVER CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
...NEAR THE MASON CITY...ALGONA AND IOWA FALLS AREAS.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jul 6, 10:42 AM CDT, 4 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1041 AM CDT MON JUL 6 1987

AT 1035 AM CDT...
A SMALL CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PERSISTED OVER
NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL IOWA...WITH THE STRONGEST STORM LOCATED
ABOUT 30 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DUBUQUE...NEAR MANCHESTER. BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN AND SOME SMALL HAIL IS STILL POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

WEAKER THUNDERSHOWERS WERE SCATTERED BETWEEN WATERLOO...MARSHALLTOWN
AND CEDAR RAPIDS. A SMALL AREA OF LIGHT SHOWERS LINGERED OVER NORTH
CENTRAL IOWA...FROM 65 MILES NORTH OF DES MOINES NEAR IOWA FALLS
NORTH TO NEAR MASON CITY AND WEST TO NEAR FORT DODGE.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AND HOUR.

BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jul 6, 11:52 AM CDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1147 AM CDT MON JUL 6 1987

AT 1135 AM CDT...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PERSISTED OVER
THE NORTHEAST THIRD OF IOWA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED
40 MILES WEST OF THE DUBUQUE AREA OR JUST SOUTHEAST OF MANCHESTER...
AND 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF CEDAR RAPIDS NEAR CENTRAL CITY. BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR AND SOME SMALL
HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

LIGHTER SHOWERS WERE LOCATED NORTHWEST OF WATERLOO AROUND THE
HAMPTON...IOWA FALLS AND ACKLEY AREAS.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 2:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk59 min
Jul 6, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBenton, Linn38 min
Jul 6, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLinn47 min
Jul 6, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLinn45 min
Jul 6, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJohnson, Linn44 min
Jul 6, 6:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJohnson41 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.