Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1988, 3:27 PM CDT for Clayton County, Delaware County, Dubuque County, Iowa. It was in force for 48 min. 2 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
- May 8, 1988, 3:27 PM CDT (20:27 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 1988, 4:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Clayton County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Dubuque 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 3:36 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Dubuque, IA | |
| May 8, 3:46 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Dubuque, 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 252 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
- 1404 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 194 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 203 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDSM 082029
TORDBQ
IAC043-055-061-082115-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
ISSUED BY DES MOINES IA
327 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTHEAST IOWA
...SOUTHERN CLAYTON...EASTERN DELAWARE...DUBUQUE
AT 322 PM...SEVERAL TORNADOES WERE OCCURING IN NORTHEAST IOWA MAINLY
AROUND THE TOWNS OF ONEDIA AND EARLVILLE IN DELAWARE COUNTY.
THIS TORNADOES WILL MOVE EAST NORTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHERN
CLAYTON...EASTERN DELAWARE INTO DUBUQUE COUNTY.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.
SOME TOWNS AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS ARE
DYERSVILLE...DUBUQUE...GARBER...HOLY CROSS AND GUTTENBURG. THESE TOWNS
ARE IN A 20 TO 40 MILES RADIUS EAST OF DUBUQUE.
ALL PEOPLE IN EXTREME EASTERN IOWA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SEVERE
WEATHER AND TORNADOES.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE ISI NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
MYERSWhat 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 8, 1:17 PM CDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE ILLINOIS 115 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE QUAD-CITIES... A 20 MILE WIDE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER EXTREME EASTERN IOWA ABOUT 20 MILES WEST OF THE QUAD-CITIES. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR DUBUQUE THROUGH MUSCATINE TO AROUND BURLINGTON IN EASTERN IOWA. THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE QUAD-CITY AREA BY 2PM. A SECOND LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS..SOME SEVERE..EXTENDED FROM WATERLOO TO NEAR OTTUMWA. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL REACH THE QUAD CITIES LATER THIS AFTERNOON. FOBERT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 12:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Jones | 62 min |
| May 8, 2:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Cedar | 35 min |
| May 8, 3:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Louisa, Muscatine | 37 min |
| May 8, 3:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Jones | 47 min |
| May 8, 3:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Cedar, Muscatine | 41 min |
| May 8, 3:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henry, Louisa | 41 min |
| May 8, 3:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Scott | 34 min |
| May 8, 3:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Clinton | 42 min |
| May 8, 4:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Clinton, Scott | 26 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988
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.