Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 1, 1990Pocahontas County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 1, 1990, 11:29 PM CDT for Pocahontas County, Iowa. It was in force for 46 min. 1 report 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
Jun 1, 1990, 11:29 PM CDT (04:29 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1990, 12:15 AM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Pocahontas 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 1, 11:45 PM CDTTornado F1Pocahontas, 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 210 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 1990-06-02Temperature 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 1990-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 150 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
241 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 020429
SVRDSM
IAC151-020515-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1129 PM CDT FRI JUN 1 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST IOWA
          ...POCOHONTAS
 
AT 1128 PM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE
POCAHONTAS-CALHOUN COUNTY LINE NEAR FONDA...OR ABOUT 40 MILES WEST OF
FORT DODGE.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL BE
AFFECTING THE CITY OF POCAHONTAS BY 1145 PM.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Jun 1, 9:21 PM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
IAZALL-020400

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
920 PM CDT FRI JUN 01 1990

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF NORTHWEST IOWA
UNTIL 3 AM CDT SAT...

AT 9 PM...A PARTLY CLOUDY SKY WAS OVER THE NORTHWEST THIRD OF IOWA
THIS EVENING...WITH A PARTLY CLOUDY TO CLOUDY SKY OVER THE REMAINDER
OF THE STATE.   WINDS WERE SOUTH 15 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR ACORSS THE
STATE...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S AND RANGED FROM 75 AT LAMONI TO
78 AT DAVENPORT/MOLINE.

THE OUTLOOK TO 11 PM...CONTINUED WINDY ACROSS IOWA.  SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOPE IN THE WEST...WITH A PARTLY CLOUDY TO CLOUDY
SKY ELSEWHERE.  TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 70S.
0
MG
Special weather statement, Jun 1, 10:41 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1040 PM CDT FRI JUN 01 1990

...TORNADO WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHWEST IOWA UNTIL 3 AM CDT SATURDAY
MORNING...

AT 1025 PM...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN
WEST CENTRAL IOWA SINCE 930 PM CDT THIS EVENING.  THE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A 15 MILE WIDE AREA THAT EXTENDED FROM NEAR
DENISON OR 45 MILES NORTHEAST OF OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS...TO 30} MILES
EAST OF OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS BETWEEN OAKLAND AND ATLANTIC.

THE THENDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 3O TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.

MG
Special weather statement, Jun 1, 11:13 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
IAZALL-020500

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1110 PM CDT FRI JUN 01 1990

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF NORTHWEST IOWA
UNTIL 3 AM CDT SAT...

AT 11PM...A SMALL CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE RACING
FROM WEST CENTRAL INTO NORTHWEST IOWA. THIS CLUSTER WAS LOCATED SOME
65 TO 80 MILES NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES...NEAR MANNING...CARROLL AND
LAKE VIEW.

THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN
HOUR.

OVER THE REMAINDER OF IOWA SKIES WERE GENERALLY PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY
...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 70S. WINDS WERE SOUTHERLY
AT 10 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR...WITH GUSTS TO 30 OVER THE FAR NORTHWEST
COUNTIES.

THE OUTLOOK THROUGH 1AM...PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES CAN BE
EXPECTED OVER MOST OF THE STATE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD
DEVELOP OVER THE FAR WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST COUNTIES.

BARLOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 1, 11:46 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPocahontas9 min
Jun 2, 11:49 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXJefferson26 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.