Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 8, 1987Guthrie County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 1987, 2:17 PM CDT for Guthrie County, Iowa. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 1987, 2:17 PM CDT (19:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1987, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Guthrie 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, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 1987-07-08Temperature 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 1987-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
3617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-17 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 081917
SVRDSM
IAC077-082000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
217 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

WEST CENTRAL IOWA...
 WESTERN GUTHRIE

AT 210 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
EXTREME SOUTHWEST GUTHRIE COUNTY IN THE VICINITY OF ADAIR...
A COMMUNITY ABOUT 50 MILES WEST OF DES MOINES.  THE STORM WAS
MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.  THE STORM WILL
BE IN THE VICINITY OF GUTHRIE CENTER...THE COUNTY SEAT OF
GUTHRIE COUNTY AND ABOUT 45 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES
AT ABOUT 230 PM CDT.

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.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY.  IF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE OBSERVED..PLEASE ASK
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

BIKLE

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 8, 8:49 AM CDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
845 AM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

AT 835 AM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS
LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTH OF DES MOINES NEAR OSCEOLA. THIS STORM
WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AND SHOULD BE
MOVING THROUGH INDIANOLA AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST DES MOINES
OVER THE NEXT HOUR.

THIS STORM WAS PART OF A 100 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS AND STORMS
THAT; STRETCHED FROM NORTHWEST IOWA...NEAR CORRECTIONVILLE OR 25
MILES EAST OF SIOUX CITY SOUTHEAST TOS SIGOURNEY...OR 15 MILES
NORTHEAST OF OTTUMWA.

THE SHOWERS AND STOMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 8:53 AM CDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
845 AM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

AT 835 AM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS
LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTH OF DES MOINES NEAR OSCEOLA. THIS STORM
WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AND SHOULD BE
MOVING THROUGH INDIANOLA AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST DES MOINES
OVER THE NEXT HOUR.

THIS STORM WAS PART OF A 100 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS AND STORMS
THATH STRETCHED FROM NORTHWEST IOWA...NEAR CORRECTIONVILLE OR 25
MILES EAST OF SIOUX CITY SOUTHEAST TO SIGOURNEY...OR 15 MILES
NORTHEAST OF OTTUMWA.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 1:49 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
148 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

AT 135 PM...SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE BECOMING
MORE NUMEROUS OVER THE SOUTHWEST HALF OF IOWA. MOST OF THE SHOWERS
AND STORMS WERE OCCURRING SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM SPENCER IN
NORTHWEST IOWA SOUTHEAST TO CENTERVILLE...60 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
DES MOINES.

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED JUST SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES...
60 MILES SOUTH OF DES MOINES NEAR LAMONI AND 70 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST
OF DES MOINES NEAR CUMBERLAND. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Grundy54 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.