Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 12, 1990Dallas County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 12, 1990, 4:02 PM CDT for Dallas County, Iowa. It was in force for 22 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 12, 1990, 4:02 PM CDT (21:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 1990, 4:24 PM CDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Dallas 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 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 12:00Z on 1990-06-12Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1990-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 244 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
3648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 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 122102
SVRDSM
IAC049-122145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
402 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL IOWA
          ...DALLAS
 
AT 400 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN DALLAS COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40
TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 20 TO 30 MILES WEST OF DES MOINES.
 
THE WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS AND CITIES OF ADEL...DALLAS CENTER...
REDFIELD...DE SOTO...AND WAUKEE.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
DOWD/HUTTON

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 12, 3:17 PM CDT, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND WEATHER UPDATE FOR IOWA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
315 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990

AT 305 PM...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN PART OF WEST
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.  THE STORMS WERE MAINLY IN EASTERN CASS
AND WESTERN ADAIR COUNTIES...OR ABOUT 45 TO 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES
MOINES.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA....
30 MILES EAST OF MASON CITY.

OTHERWISE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED
FROM NEAR COUNCIL BLUFFS...TO NEAR EAGLE GROVE...45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
MASON CITY.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

THE OUTLOOK THROUGH 5PM...IS FORD INCREASING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE STATE.  SOME OF THE STORMS COULD
BECOME SEVERE BY 5PM...PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN...LARGE HAIL...HIGH
WIND AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

HUTTON
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 3:46 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
344 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF IOWA UNTIL 10 PM
THIS TUESDAY EVENING...

AT 310 PM...70 MILE AN HOUR WINDS WERE REPORTED AT ANITA...LOCATED
ABOUT 60 MLES WEST OF DES MOINES.

AT 330 PM...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER SOUTHWEST IOWA...
IN A 25 MILE WIDE AREA...BETWEEN GUTHRIE CENTER AND CUMBERLAND...OR
FROM 45 MILES WEST...THROUGH 65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES.  THESE
STORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...FREQUENT
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND STRONG GUSTY WIND...AND COULD ALSO PRODUCE
SOME HAIL AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE PREPARED
TO SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH.
.
OVER THE REMAINDER OF IOWA...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN A
40 MILE WIDE BAND...EXTENDING FROM ABOUTp THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF
THE STATE....THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF IOWA.

WPM/JAH
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 3:49 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
IA002-003-007-122130

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
345 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990

       ...TORNADO WATCH FOR NORTHEAST IOWA UNTIL 10PM CDT...

AT 340 PM CDT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHEAST
IOWA...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS IN HOWARD COUNTY NEAR CRESCO. OTHER
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED FROM THE MINNESOTA BORDER
THROUGH CHARLES CITY AND TO HAMPTON...OR 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF WATERLOO.s
THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP TO THE SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES
AND WERE ALSO MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST.

COLLAR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 3:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdair22 min
Jun 12, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer39 min
Jun 12, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXChickasaw42 min
Jun 12, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFayette27 min
Jun 12, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBenton19 min
Jun 12, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Hamilton, Webster44 min
Jun 12, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton30 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.