Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 30, 1989Hardin County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 30, 1989, 6:50 PM CDT for Hardin County, Iowa. It was in force for 40 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 30, 1989, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1989, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Hardin 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
May 30, 6:55 PM CDTHail 1Hardin, IA
May 30, 7:32 PM CDTHail 0.75Hardin, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 276 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1989-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1989-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 30, 3:06 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 30, 3:40 PM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
335 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST IOWA UNTIL 7 PM...

AT 335...AN OCCASIONAL SPRINKLE WAS LOCATED IN PARTS CENTRAL AND NORTH
EAST IOWA...HOWEVER THESE SPRINKLES WERE QUITE BRIEF...DISSIPATING AS
QUICKLY AS THEY HAVE FORMED.

SCOTT
Special weather statement, May 30, 4:24 PM CDT, 2 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
410 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST IOWA UNTIL 7 PM...

AT 410...AN OCCASIONAL SPRINKLE WAS LOCATED IN PARTS OF THE NORTH HALF
OF IOWA...HOWEVER THESE SPRINKLES WERE QUITE BRIEF.

OTHERWISE SKIES ARE MOSTLY CLOUDY IN THE NORTH AND EAST...PARTLY CLOUDY
TO SUNNY IN THE SOUTH AND EAST.

TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE MID 80S TO AROUND 90.

SCeOTT
Special weather statement, May 30, 4:40 PM CDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
435 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR A SMALL PART OF EASTERN IOWA
UNTIL 10 PM...

AT 430...AN OCCASIONAL SPR{INKLE WAS LOCATED IN PARTS OF THE NORTH HALF
OF IOWA...HOWEVER THESE SPRINKLES WERE QUITE BRIEF.

SCOTT
Special weather statement, May 30, 6:20 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
605 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF
EASTERN IOWA UNTIL 10PM...

AT 600 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS HAD DEVELOPED IN
CENTRAL IOWA...AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUDERSHOWERS CONTINUED JUST
SOUTH OF THE MASON CITY AREA.  OTHERWISE...SKIES WERE MOSTLY CLOUDY IN
THE NORTHERN HALF OF IOWA...SUNNY TO PARTLY C+LOUDY IN THE SOUTHERN HALF.

TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE MID 50S TO LOWER 60S IN NORTHWEST IOWA...AND IN
THE MID 80S TO AROUND 90 IN THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF IOWA.

SCOTT
Special weather statement, May 30, 6:45 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
6 35 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF
EASTERN IOWA UNTIL 10PM...

AT 6 30 PM...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS HAD DEVELOPED IN
CENTRAL IOWA BETWEEN STORY CITY AND IOWA FALLS.  VERY HEAVY RAINS...
STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE
STORMS.

A FEW SHOWERS WERE AL>SO LOCATED IN NORTH CENTRAL INTO NORTHEAST IOWA IN
THE CHARLES CITY AREA...ABOUT 40 MILES EAST OF MASON CITY.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 25 MILES AN
HOUR.

SCOTT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 6:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin41 min
May 30, 7:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer, Chickasaw, Fayette44 min
May 30, 8:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer57 min
May 30, 10:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHoward32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.