Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Des Moines, IA

March 9, 1990Warren County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 9, 1990, 11:34 PM CST for Warren County, Iowa. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 9, 1990, 11:34 PM CST (05:34 UTC)
Expired
Mar 10, 1990, 12:00 AM CST
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Warren 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 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 235 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-10Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 22 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
3553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 100534
SVRDSM
IAC181-100600-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1134 PM CST FRI MAR 9 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
          ...WASHINGTON
 
AT 1125 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT DES MOINES INDICATED A
SEVERE STORM IN EASTERN KEOKUK COUNTY...MOVING INTO WASHINGTON COUNTY.
THE STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 75 TO 80 MILES EAST OF DES MOINES ...
MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. AT 1127 PM...A SHERIFF'S DEPUTY
REPORTED STRONG WINDS...OF 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR...AT KEOTA.
 
THIS STORM WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS AND CITIES OF WEST CHESTER...
WASHINGTON...AND AINSWORTH.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
DOWD

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Mar 9, 10:39 PM CST, 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1038 PM CST FRI MAR 9 1990

AT 1028 PM...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN MAHASKA
COUNTY...50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES.  VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG
WIND...AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.  OTHER STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED NORTH OF LAKE RATHBUN...ABOUT 25 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF OTTUMWA...WITH ANOTHER STRONG STORM ABOUT 10 MILES EASTC
OF NEWTON...OR ABOUT 35 MILES EAST OF DES MOINES.

OTHER LIGHTER SHOWERS WERE LOCATED IN PART OF CENTRAL IOWA.

MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

HUTTON
Special weather statement, Mar 9, 11:24 PM CST, 10 minutes before
IAZ14-100545-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1123 PM CST FRI MAR 9 1990

AT 1118 PM...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED OVER EASTERN KEOKUK
COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IOWA.   THE STORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES EAST OF
SIGOURNEY OR ABOUT 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF OTTUMWA.  THE THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

AT 1110 PM THE KEOKUK COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL AND
VERY HEAVY RAIN AT SIGOURNEY.  ALSO...THE POWER HAD BEEN KNOCKED OUT
IN SIGOURNEY.

DLF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 10, 12:04 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWarren26 min
Mar 10, 7:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Poweshiek30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.