Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Des Moines, IA

March 8, 1990Johnson County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Mar 8, 1990, 4:42 PM CST for Johnson County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 8, 1990, 4:42 PM CST (22:42 UTC)
Expired
Mar 8, 1990, 5:15 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Johnson 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 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 389 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 12:00Z on 1990-03-08Temperature 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 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 12:00Z on 1990-03-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 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
554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 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 082243
TORDSM
IAC103-082315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
442 PM CST THU MAR 8 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF IOWA
      NORTHERN JOHNSON

AT 435 PM...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF
HIGHWAY 965 AND INTERSTATE 80.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR...AND
WILL BE AFFECTING THE CITIES OF CORALVILLE...AND NORTHERN
SECTIONS OF THE IOWA CITY AREA...AND SOLON.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.  IF
NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  IF YOU ARE IN A VEHICLE OR MOBILE HOME...LEAVE IT AT
ONCE AND TAKE SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR IN A DITCH.

TRUETT

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.