Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Omaha, NE

July 9, 1987Page County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 9, 1987, 12:15 AM CDT for Page County, Iowa. It was in force for 30 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 9, 1987, 12:15 AM CDT (05:15 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1987, 12:45 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Page 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 9, 12:20 AM CDTTornado F1Page, 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 00:00Z on 1987-07-09Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1987-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 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
3603 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
145 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 KOMA 090515 RRA
TOROMA
IAC145-090545-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
1215 AM CDT THU JUL 9 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHWEST IOWA...PAGE

AT 1210 AM CDT A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR ABOUT
7 MILES SOUITHWEST OF CLARINDA...55 MILES NORTH OF ST JOSEPH
MISSOURI.

PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE OPEN...TRY TO HIDE IN A DEPRESSION LIKE
A DITCH OR CULVERT.

DAMAGE REPORTS OR OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD BE GIVEN TO A LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ASSOCIATED WITH THE POSSIBLE TORNADO
WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15A MPH.

BYRD

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, Jul 8, 10:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
1050 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1987

AT 1050 PM CDT WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED ACROSS
EXTREME SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...AND CONTINUED IN BURT COUNTY OF EAST
CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

A VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN EXTREME NORTHERN NEMAHA
COUNTY OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA.  THE STORM WAS 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF FALLS
CITY.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS...SMALL HAIL AND
WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 40 MPH AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHEAST
OTOE COUNTY NEBRASKA AND INTO SOUTHERN FREMONT COUNTY IOWA...NEAR
THE TOWN OF HAMBURG BY 1145 PM CDT.

BYRD
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 11:54 PM CDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
1150 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1987

AT 1150 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN SOUTHEAST OTOE
...AND NORTHEAST NEMAHA COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA.  THESE
STORMS PRODUCED SMALL HAIL IN THE TOWN OF BROCK IN NEMAHA COUNTY
AROUND 11PM CDT.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY NORTHEAST
AND WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AS THEY MOVE INTO SOUTHERN FREMONT COUNTY IOWA NEAR
HAMBURG.  SOME LOWLAND FLOODING IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

ANOTHER VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTOM HAD DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL PAGE
COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST IOWA...5 MILES WEST OF CLARINDA.  THE STORM
WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MP3H.

LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND LOOK OUT FOR SMALL STREAM OR URBAN
FLOODING WITH THESE STORMS.

BYRD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 1:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPottawattamie58 min
Jul 9, 4:26 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOAXMills, Montgomery4 hr
Jul 9, 6:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOAXPage4 hr

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.