Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 27, 1987Jones County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1987, 9:48 PM CDT for Jones County, Iowa. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 1987, 9:48 PM CDT (02:48 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1987, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Jones 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

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1393 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1393 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KDBQ 280254
SVRDBQ
IAC105-280345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
948 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST IOWA...JONES

AT 945 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO
PORTIONS OF JONES COUNTY.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR 
CENTER JUNCTION...35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DUBUQUE.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN
HOUR.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE, SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG
BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND, LARGE HAIL, VERY HEAVY RAIN, AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  STAY INSIDE,
AWAY FROM WINDOWS, UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER...HAVE YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

ATSMUS

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 27, 5:31 PM CDT, 4 hours 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
530 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

AT 525 PM CDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTH-
EAST JO-DAVIESS COUNTY ILLINIOS NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF WARREN...
35 MILES EAST OF DUBUQUE.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS PART OF A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED FROM CENTRAL WISCONSIN INTO EASTERN
IOWA.

ALL THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 TO
40 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHEAST JO-DAVIES COUNTY ILLINIOS WILL
BE MOVING INTO EASTERN PORTIONS OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY WISCONSIN BEFORE
6 PM CDT...THEN MOVING OUT OF THE DUBUQUE TRI-STATE AREA BY 8 PM CDT.

THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS LIKELY TO CAUSE _HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE AREA.

IF YOU SIGHT THREATENING WEATHER...IT IS BEST TO TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY.  SEVERE WEATHER CAN STRIKE WITH LITTLE OR NO
ADVANCE WARNING.

ASMUS
Local storm report, May 27, 6:23 PM CDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
625 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

1750...ONE INCH HAIL REPORTED AT SOUTH WAYNE WISCONSIN IN EXTREME
       SOUTHEAST CORNER OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY.  HAIL FELL AT 1740 BUT
       REPORT NOT RELAYED TO NWS DBQ UNTIL 1750.  REPORT FROM
       LAFAYETTE COUNTY SHERIFF.

NO OTHER REPORTS RECIEVED...ALL TIMES CDT.

ASMUS
Special weather statement, May 27, 6:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
649 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN IOWA AND NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS...

AT 645 PM CDT...A 30 TO 40 MILE WIDEBAND OF SHOWERS AND STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM WASHINGTON IOWA..60 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF THE QUAD CITIES..TO JUST NORTH OF THE QUAD CITIES TO JUST SOUTH
OF FREEPORT IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS.

SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO BE ACCOMAPNIED BY
BRIEF HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL..WIND GUST TO 40 MPH OR MORE AND
FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST ABOUT 25 TO 30 MPH.

AT 643 PM WIND GUSTS TO 46 MPH WAS RECORDED AT QUAD CITY AIRPORT.

WIGGINS
Special weather statement, May 27, 8:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
815 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA...

AT 812 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE CLUSTERED NEAR TIPTON IOWA
IN CENTRAL CEDAR COUNTY..ABOUT 35 TO 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE QUAD
CITIES.

THIS STORM MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN..HAIL..STRONG WIND
GUSTS AND SHARP LIGHTNING AS IT MOVES NORTHNORTHEAST 30 MPH.

THE STORM WAS PART OF A LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT
EXTENDED IN A 30 MILE WIDE BAND FROM CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA TO FREEPORT
ILLINOIS.

MOVMENT WAS NORTHEAST ABOUT 25 TO 30 MPH.

WIGGINS

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.