Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1987, 3:32 PM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 38 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 2, 1987, 3:32 PM CDT (20:32 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1987, 4:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 236 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
- 3602 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 0 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 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 022032 TORDSM IAC153-022110- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 332 PM CDT SAT MAY 2 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF CENTRAL IOWA... NORTHEAST POLK AT 324 PM...A SHERIFF DEPUTY SIGHTED A FUNNEL CLOUD AT BIG CREEK STATE PARK WHICH IS ABOUT 15 MILES NORTH OF DES MOINES. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE PATH OF THE FUNNEL CLOUD ALLEMAN... ELKHART. IF A TORNADO APPROACHES...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. A BASEMENT... INTERIOR HALLWAY...OR A ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IS THE SAFEST PLACE IN MOST BUILDINGS. IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME OR AN AUTOMOBILE...LEAVE AT ONCE. TAKE COVER IN A STORM SHELTER...OR LIE IN A NEARBY DITCH OR DEPRESSION. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. MCQUIRTER
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 2, 2:46 PM CDT, 46 minutes before
<PQ< SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 245 PM CDT SATURDAY MAY 2 1987 ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO DES MOINES AND AMES... THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING TO THE WEST OF DES MOINES AND AMES AND ARE NOW MOVING INTO THESE MUNICIPALITIES. MOST REPORTS RECEIVED HAVE ONLY INCLUDED HEAVY RAINS WITH THESE STORMS ...BUT PEA SIZE HAIL WAS OBSERVED AT WAUKEE AT APPROXIMATELY 230 PM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS IN THE RANGE OF 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR. THUS IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT BOATERS AND SWIMMERS ON AREA LAKES...INCLUDING SAYLORVILLE LAKE...HEAD IN FOR SHORE BEFORE THESE STORMS ARRIVE. LIGHTNING SAFETY PRECAUTIONS NEED ALSOY BE OBSERVED. DOWD
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 4:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 50 min |
| May 2, 5:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper | 27 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.