Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 5, 1990Clay County, Dickinson County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 5, 1990, 4:24 AM CDT for Clay County, Dickinson County, Iowa. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 5, 1990, 4:24 AM CDT (09:24 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1990, 5:00 AM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clay County, IA, Dickinson 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

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1990-06-05Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1990-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1422 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 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 050924
SVRDSM
IAC041-059-051000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
424 AM CDT TUE JUN 5 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF IOWA
      CLAY...DICKINSON

AT 420 AM CDT RAPIDLY DEVELOPING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
INTO CLAY AND DICKINSON COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST IOWA.  THE HISTORY
OF THESE STORMS HAS BEEN BRIEF HEAVY RAINS SMALL HAIL AND STRONG
GUSTY SURFACE WINDS NEAR 60 MILES AN HOUR.

CITIES IN THE WARNING INCLUDE SPENCER IN CLAY COUNTY...AND SPIRIT
LAKE AND THE IOWA GREAT LAKES AREA SOME 20 MILES NORTH OF SPENCER
IN DICKINSON COUNTY.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES
AN HOUR...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAINS.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOU HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT
DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

FORSTER

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 5, 1:34 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
IAZALL-050735-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
135 AM CDT TUE JUN 5 1990

AT 125 AM CDT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO SPREAD INTO
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL IOWA...FROM SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA...
WITH SOME OF THE STORMS PRODUCING WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MILES AN
HOUR...ALONG WITH SOME SMALL HAIL.

THE AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS WAS ABOUT 60 MILES WIDE...CENTERED
FROM THE IOWA/SOUTH DAKO_TA BORDER 50 MILES NORTH OF SIOUX CITY...TO
60 MILES WEST OF DES MOINES.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE SPREADING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH...PEOPLE IN THE PATH SHOULD SEEK
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

WPM
Special weather statement, Jun 5, 2:36 AM CDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
IAZALL-050835-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
235 AM CDT TUE JUN 5 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PORTION
OF EXTREME NORTHWEST IOWA UNTIL 7AM THIS TUESDAY MORNING...

AT 225 AM CDT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO SPREAD ACROSS
NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL IOWA.

THE AREA OF NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS 60 MILES
WIDE...CENTERED FROM THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF IOWA...TO ABOUT 40
MILES WEST OF DES MOINES.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER THE EXTREME NORTHWEST AREAS
OF IOWA...AND WERE MOVING RAPIDLY EAST AT AROUND 45 MILES AN HOUR.{{}
SHOULD THREATENING STORMS APPROACH...BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY.{{}
WPM
Special weather statement, Jun 5, 3:33 AM CDT, 51 minutes before
IAZALL-050935-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
333 AM CDT TUE JUN 5 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PORTION
OF EXTREME NORTHWEST IOWA UNTIL 7AM THIS TUESDAY MORNING...

AT 325 AM CDT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHWEST...INTO NORTH CENTRAL IOWA.

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA...
ALONG WITH BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAINS...COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WIND
AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL AS THEY MOVE RAPIDLY EAST AT AROUND 45
MILES AN HOUR.

SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH...PEOPLE IN THEIR PATH SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

THE ENTIRE AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS WAS 90 MILES WIDE...CENTERED
FROM 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY...TO NEAR JUST EAST OF SIOUX
CITY.

THE STRONGEST STORMS SHOULD BE IN THE MASON CITY...CLEAR LAKE AREA
BETWEEN 4 AND 430 AM.

WPM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 3:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth39 min
Jun 5, 4:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuena Vista37 min
Jun 5, 5:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Pocahontas, Sac53 min
Jun 5, 6:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Webster63 min
Jun 5, 8:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHardin43 min
Jun 5, 9:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin25 min
Jun 5, 9:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler45 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.