Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 24, 1989Hamilton County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1989, 6:32 PM CDT for Hamilton County, Iowa. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 1989, 6:32 PM CDT (23:32 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1989, 7:13 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Hamilton 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 250 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 12:00Z on 1989-05-24Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1989-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 244 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
3671 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 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 KDSM 242332
TORDSM
IAC079-250015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
632 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE CENTRAL PART OF IOWA
      SOUTHERN HAMILTON

AT 630 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT
STANHOPE IN HAMILTON COUNTY...ABOUT 50 MILES NORTH OF
DES MOINES.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST 35 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL BE
AFFECTING THE CITIES OF STANHOPE AND JEWELL.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.  IF
NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  IF YOU ARE IN A VEHICLE OR MOBILE HOME...LEAVE IT AT
ONCE AND TAKE SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR IN A DITCH.

TRUETT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDickinson41 min
May 23, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClay41 min
May 23, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuena Vista, Palo Alto, Pocahontas60 min
May 23, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuena Vista, Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac80 min
May 23, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford70 min
May 23, 11:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster46 min
May 23, 11:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster40 min
May 24, 12:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Story58 min
May 24, 12:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon, Carroll, Greene, Guthrie56 min
May 24, 12:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford, Sac53 min
May 24, 12:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll34 min
May 24, 1:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Greene, Guthrie40 min
May 24, 1:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper39 min
May 24, 2:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas26 min
May 24, 2:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion30 min
May 24, 2:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Mahaska, Poweshiek45 min
May 24, 2:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Madison, Polk, Warren57 min
May 24, 3:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKeokuk, Wapello29 min
May 24, 3:19 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXLucas, Warren41 min
May 24, 3:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuchanan, Fayette56 min
May 24, 4:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Polk56 min
May 24, 4:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Marion53 min
May 24, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams, Cass50 min
May 24, 5:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdams26 min
May 24, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXUnion58 min
May 24, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton50 min
May 24, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdams16 min
May 24, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXRinggold, Union55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.