Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 27, 1989Van Buren County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 27, 1989, 7:33 PM CDT for Van Buren County, Iowa. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 27, 1989, 7:33 PM CDT (00:33 UTC)
Expired: Apr 27, 1989, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Whole counties

County 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 280033
TORDSM
IAC177-280100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
733 PM CDT THU APR 27 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF IOWA
      EXTREME SOUTHERN VAN BUREN

AT 728 PM...WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A POSSIBLE
TORNADO IN EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL VAN BUREN COUNTY NEAR
MOUNT STERLING...ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OTTUMWA.

THE STORM CONTINUED TO DRIFT SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 20 MILES AN
HOUR...AND WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE CITY OF MOUNT STERLING.

MARBLE TO GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL WAS COVERING THE GROUND
AT MOUNT STERLING AT 725 PM.

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.

BARLOW/TRUETT

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, Apr 27, 2:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 50 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 33 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 57 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 50 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, 7:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Davis, Van Buren	22 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.