Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 16, 1990Mahaska County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1990, 1:36 PM CDT for Mahaska County, Iowa. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jun 16, 1990, 1:36 PM CDT (18:36 UTC)
Expired: Jun 16, 1990, 2:30 PM CDT
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Whole counties

County Mahaska 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, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 311 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 3656 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 241 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 237 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 161836
TORDSM
IAC123-105-177-161930-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
136 PM CDT SAT JUN 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
          ...SOUTHEASTERN MAHASKA
IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
          ...KEOKUK...NORTHERN WAPELLO
 
AT 130 PM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST
OF OTTUMWA. A CITIZEN ALSO HAS REPORTED A TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST OF
THE OTTUMWA AREA.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL BE
AFFECTING THE CITIES OF OTTUMWA...SIGOURNEY...AND FREEMONT...AND
KIRKVILLE.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  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.
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
 
SCOTT/TRUETT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 16, 6:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Dallas, Polk	62 min
Jun 16, 6:17 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Polk	43 min
Jun 16, 6:41 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Polk	3 hr
Jun 16, 7:12 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Jasper	33 min
Jun 16, 7:22 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Dallas	4 hr
Jun 16, 9:16 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Marion, Warren	3 hr
Jun 16, 9:48 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Johnson	3 hr
Jun 16, 1:36 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Union	114 min
Jun 16, 1:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Keokuk, Wapello	44 min
Jun 16, 2:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Davis, Jefferson, Van Buren	44 min
Jun 16, 4:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair	39 min
Jun 16, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Madison, Union	30 min
Jun 16, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Wapello	26 min
Jun 16, 5:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Madison	26 min
Jun 16, 6:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Clarke	29 min

Nearby

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