Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 16, 1990Polk County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1990, 6:17 AM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 1990, 6:17 AM CDT (11:17 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1990, 7:00 AM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Polk 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 236 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 1990-06-16Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1990-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
3621 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 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 161118
TORDSM
IAC153-161200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
617 AM CDT SAT JUN 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL IOWA
          ...SOUTHERN POLK
 
AT 615 AM...A TORNADO WAS SIGHTED WAS BY THE URBANDALE POLICE AT 114TH
STREET AND INTERSTATE 80. THIS WAS LOCATED 3 TO 5 MILES WEST OF DES
MOINES.
 
THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE CITY OF DES MOINES...URBANDALE...WEST DES
MOINES...CLIVE AND WINDSOR HEIGHTS.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BA
SEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 6:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Polk62 min
Jun 16, 6:41 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXPolk3 hr
Jun 16, 7:12 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXJasper33 min
Jun 16, 7:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXDallas4 hr
Jun 16, 9:16 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXMarion, Warren3 hr
Jun 16, 9:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXJohnson3 hr
Jun 16, 1:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXUnion114 min
Jun 16, 1:36 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMahaska54 min
Jun 16, 1:36 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXKeokuk, Wapello44 min
Jun 16, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis, Jefferson, Van Buren44 min
Jun 16, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair39 min
Jun 16, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMadison, Union30 min
Jun 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWapello26 min
Jun 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMadison26 min
Jun 16, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClarke29 min

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.