Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 24, 1989Muscatine County, Scott County, Iowa; Rock Island County, Illinois

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1989, 11:12 PM CDT for Muscatine County, Scott County, Iowa; Rock Island County, Illinois. It was in force for 18 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 1989, 11:12 PM CDT (04:12 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1989, 11:30 PM CDT
In force
18 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Rock Island County, IL

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, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 00:00Z on 1989-05-25Temperature 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 00:00Z on 1989-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 230 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
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
230 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
347 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLI 250412
TORMLI
IAC163-139-ILC161-250430-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
1112 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF IOWA
      SOUTHERN SCOTT...EASTERN MUSCATINE...

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF ILLINOIS
      SOUTH AND CENTRAL ROCK-ISLAND...

AT 1105 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A
POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR SWEETLAND CENTER...ABOUT 20 MILES WEST OF
THE QUAD CITIES. THIS STORM PRODUCED 60 MILE AN HOUR WINDS IN
SWEETLAND CENTER. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME CITIES/TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... MONPELIER...
BUFFALO...ANDALUSIA AND THE QUAD CITY METRO AREA.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

IF TIME PERMITS..ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY
YOUR REPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

ATTN ISP 7 AND 1

PHILLIPS

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, May 24, 7:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
700 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF THE TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL
10 PM...

AT 655 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF ISOLATED SHOWERS WERE
MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL DELAWARE COUNTY NEAR MANCHESTER...35 MILES EAST
OF DUBUQUE.

MOVEMENT OF THESE SHOWERS WAS TO THE EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

AS OF 655 PM NO SEVERE WEATHER HAD BEEN REPORTED IN THE TRI-ST'ATE
AREA.

PERSONS IN THE TRI-STATE AREA SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND MONITIOR COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION OR NOAA WEATHER
RADIO STATIONS.

BAILEY
Special weather statement, May 24, 9:06 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
906 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF THE TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL
10 PM...

900 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING
THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE TRI-STATE AREA. THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED
PERIODS OF SEVERE WEATHER AS THEY HAVE MOVED THROUGH THE UPPER
MID-WEST.

MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR
AN@D WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TOWARD THE CENTRAL PART OF THE TRI-STATE
AREA.

PEOPLE ARE ADVISED TO BE AWARE OF CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND
MONITOR THE LATEST FORECAST FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

BAILEY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 9:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware63 min
May 24, 10:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJones66 min
May 24, 10:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNLouisa, Muscatine26 min
May 24, 11:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHenry24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1989Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 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.