Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 14, 1987Kossuth County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 14, 1987, 5:52 PM CDT for Kossuth County, Iowa. It was in force for 38 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 14, 1987, 5:52 PM CDT (22:52 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 1987, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Kossuth 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 14, 5:55 PM CDTHail 1Kossuth, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 189 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1987-07-14Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1987-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 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
1212 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 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 142252
SVRDSM
IAC109-142330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
552 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

NORTH CENTRAL IOWA...
 SOUTHERN KOSSUTH

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST KOSSUTH COUNTY OF
NORTH CENTRAL IOWA.  QUARTER SIZE HAIL 40 MILE AN HOUR WINDS WERE
REPORTED NEAR THE TOWN OF WHITTEMORE WHICH IS ABOUT 40 MILES EAST
OF SPENCER.

TOWNS AFFECTED ARE ALGONA...ST JOSEPH...AND IRVINGTON.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR.

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.

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.

ADAMS

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 14, 5:16 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
<PQ<
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
515 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT A LARGE PART OF
   NORTHERN AND CENTRAL IOWA UNTIL 10 PM TONIGHT...

VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE SPENCER AND IOWA GREAT LAKES
AREAS.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STRONGEST STORMS CAN PRODUCE SMALL HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MILES AN HOUR.

BOATERS AND CAMPERS IN THE IOWA RECREATIONAL LAKES AREA IN NORTHWEST IOWA
SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SHELTER.

AT 450 PM...A SHERIFF DEPUTY REPORTED PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL...AND A
WIND GUST OF 48 MILES AN HOUR AT EVERLY.

MCQUIRTER
Special weather statement, Jul 14, 5:44 PM CDT, 8 minutes before
<PQ<
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
545 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 1987

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF EXTREME NORTHWEST IOWA
HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

COUNTIES NO LONGER INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE PLYMOUTH...WOODBURY...
MONONA...OSCEOLA...O BRIEN...DICKINSON...AND CLAY.

MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED EAST OF THESE AREAS AND VERY LITTLE
THREAT WILL REMAIN FOR ANY SEVERE WEATHER THIS EVENING.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THOSE OTHER
COUNTIES IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL IOWA THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE ORIGINAL
WATCH.

ADAMS
Local storm report, Jul 14, 5:50 PM CDT, 2 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
550 PM CDT TUE JUL 14 1987

TIME          EVENT

440 PM CDT   EXTREME HEAVY RAIN AND 3/4 INCH HAIL CAUSED EXTENSIVE
 (APPROX.)   CROP DAMAGE, STRIPPING THE CORN STALKS COMPLETELY, SOUTH
             OF GRAFTON IN WORTH COUNTY AND NEAR PLYMOUTH IN MITCHELL
             COUNTY. GOLF BALL-SIZED WAS ALSO ESTIMATED AS BEING 2
             INCHES DEEP ON THE HIGHWAY.

453 PM CDT   3/4 INCH HAIL...40 MPH WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN OCCURRED 15
 (APPROX.)   MILES WEST OF OSAGE, IA IN MITCHELL COUNTY.

HEITKAMP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMitchell, Worth67 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.