Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Quad Cities, IA

June 17, 1987Clayton County, Delaware County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 17, 1987, 4:30 PM CDT for Clayton County, Delaware County, Iowa. It was in force for 50 min. 3 reports 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
Jun 17, 1987, 4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 1987, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clayton County, IA, Delaware 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
Jun 17, 4:56 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Delaware, IA
Jun 17, 5:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Clayton, IA
Jun 17, 5:05 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Clayton, 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, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 265 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 1987-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 466 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1987-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
466 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1030 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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 172132
SVRDBQ
IAC043-055-172230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
430 PM CDT WED JUN 17 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530  PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST IOWA...CLAYTON AND DELAWARE.

A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PORTIONS
OF CLAYTON AND DELAWARE COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST IOWA.  WIND GUSTS OF
60 MILES AN HOUR WERE REPORTED IN ELKADER...45 MILES NORTHWEST OF
DUBUQUE.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN
HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...OR SEE THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACH...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.  REMEMBER, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS.

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

ASMUS

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, Jun 17, 3:46 PM CDT, 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
345 PM CDT WED JUN 17 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MOST OF THE TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL
800 PM CDT...

AT 340 THIS AFTERNOON A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS PREPARING
TO MOVE INTO THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE DUBUQUE TRI-STATE AREA.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR DECORAH...IN NORTH-
EAST IOWA...THROUGH INDEPENDENCE...50 MILES WEST OF DUBUQUE...TO
NEAR CEDAR RAPIDS.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30
MILES AN HOUR.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN CLAYTON
AND DELAWARE COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST IOWA BETWEEN 400 AND 430 PM CDT.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AS THEY MOVE ACROSS THE AREA.

THEY MAY ALSO PRODUCE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. TTHESE STORMS DID
PRODUCE SOME SEVERE WEATHER AS THEY MOVED ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTH-
CENTRAL IOWA EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON.

ASMUS

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.