Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

May 23, 1989Lyon County, Osceola County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1989, 8:07 PM CDT for Lyon County, Osceola County, Iowa. It was in force for 38 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 23, 1989, 8:07 PM CDT (01:07 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 1989, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lyon County, IA, Osceola 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 23, 8:25 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Lyon, IA
May 23, 8:35 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56	Osceola, 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 232 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 3566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 256 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 KFSD 240108
TORFSD
IAC119-143-240145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
807 PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHWEST IOWA
          ...EASTERN LYON...WESTERN OSCEOLA
 
SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE GEORGE...ROCK RAPIDS...
SIBLEY...AND ASHTON IOWA.
 
AT 8 PM CDT A SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO 4 MILES NORTH OF GEORGE
IOWA MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. HEAVY RAINS AND MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS
ALSO REPORTED.
 
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.
KAPELA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 23, 7:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lyon	48 min
May 23, 7:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Osceola	48 min
May 23, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	69 min
May 23, 8:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Osceola	38 min
May 23, 8:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Sioux	38 min
May 23, 9:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cherokee	61 min
May 23, 11:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cherokee, Ida	56 min
May 24, 12:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Ida	28 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.