Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 27, 1989Davis County, Van Buren County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 27, 1989, 7:08 PM CDT for Davis County, Van Buren County, Iowa. It was in force for 22 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 27, 1989, 7:08 PM CDT (00:08 UTC)
Expired: Apr 27, 1989, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Davis County, IA, Van Buren 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

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 218 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1692 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1202 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 280009
TORDSM
IAC051-177-280030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
708 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
          ...SOUTHEASTERN DAVIS...SOUTHERN VAN-BUREN
 
AT 7 PM...RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A TORNADO OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST
DAVIS AND SOUTHWEST VAN-BUREN COUNTIES. AT 655 PM...A TORNADO WAS
REPORTED 4 MILES WEST OF MOUNT STERLING.
 
THE STORM CONTINUED MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR...AND
THOSE IN THE TOWN OF MOUNT STERLING SHOULD TAKE COVER AT ONCE.
 
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.

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

Local storm report, Apr 27, 1:12 PM CDT, 5 hours 56 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
111 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989

THE FOLLOWING ARE ADDITIONAL STORM REPORTS OBTAINED TODAY FROM THE
SEVERE WEATHER EVENT IN IOWA WHICH TOOK PLACE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON
AND EVENING (WEDNESDAY APRIL 26).

TIME OF EVENT           EVENT

BETWEEN 400 PM          SIDEWALL OF GAS STATION IN MARION BLOWN IN.
AND 500 PM              MARION IS IN LINN COUNTY JUST NORTHEAST OF
                        CEDAR RAPIDS.

BETWEEN 400 PM          A NEW ROOF BLOWN OFF A HOME IN NORTHWEST
AND 500 PM              CEDAR RAPIDS IN LINN COUNTY.

END/BIKLE

Special weather statement, Apr 27, 2:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
240 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF WESTERN IOWA
UNTIL 8 PM...

ALTHOUGH A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT...THERE WAS NO PRECIPITATION
IN THE STATE OF IOWA AT 230 PM.

KS

Local storm report, Apr 27, 3:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 8 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
300 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989

THE FOLLOWING ARE ADDITIONAL STORM REPORTS OBTAINED TODAY FROM THE
SEVERE WEATHER EVENT IN IOWA WHICH TOOK PLACE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON
AND EVENING (WEDNESDAY APRIL 26).

TIME OF EVENT          EVENT

700 PM                 DIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL FELL IN THE FAIRFIELD
                       AREA IN JEFFERSON COUNTY.

730 PM                 A ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A GARAGE IN THE CITY OF
                       OTTUMWA IN WAPELLO COUNTY.

744 PM                 WINDOWS IN SOME HOUSES IN NORTHEAST VAN BUREN
                       COUNTY WERE BROKEN DUE TO DIME TO QUARTER SIZED
                       HAIL BORNE ON HIGH WINDS.
/
END/BIKLE

Special weather statement, Apr 27, 3:36 PM CDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
337 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF WESTERN IOWA
UNTIL 8 PM...

ALTHOUGH A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT...THERE WAS NO PRECIPITATION
IN THE STATE OF IOWA AT 330 PM.

BARLOW

Special weather statement, Apr 27, 4:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 25 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
442 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF WESTERN IOWA
UNTIL 8 PM...

THERE HAS BEEN NO SEVERE WEATHER REPORTED IN IOWA SINCE 335 PM.

AT 435 PM...A SMALL CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED
OVER SOUTHEAST IOWA. THE PRECIPITATION WAS LOCATED AROUND THE CITIES
OF BRIGHTON...WASHINGTON AND WAPELLO. A THUNDERSTORM HAD ALSO DEVELOPED
AROUND BLOOMFIELD. THE AREA OF DEVELOPMENT WAS BETWEEN THE CITIES OF
OTTUMWA...BURLINGTON AND THE QUAD CITIES.

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

BARLOW

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 27, 7:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Van Buren	27 min
Apr 27, 8:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Calhoun, Carroll, Sac	61 min
Apr 27, 8:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Audubon, Carroll	37 min
Apr 27, 10:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Adams, Cass	40 min
Apr 27, 10:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Ringgold, Taylor, Union	40 min
Apr 27, 10:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Clarke, Madison	42 min
Apr 27, 10:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Decatur	42 min
Apr 27, 11:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Dallas, Polk, Warren	40 min
Apr 27, 11:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper, Marion	49 min
Apr 27, 11:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Lucas, Monroe	48 min
Apr 28, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Appanoose, Monroe	44 min
Apr 28, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper, Mahaska, Poweshiek	44 min
Apr 28, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Marion	44 min
Apr 28, 12:16 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Davis, Wapello	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes 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.