Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 28, 1990Hardin County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 28, 1990, 1:44 PM CDT for Hardin County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 28, 1990, 1:44 PM CDT (18:44 UTC)
Expired
Jun 28, 1990, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Hardin 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, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 276 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 1990-06-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 102 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1990-06-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 298 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
102 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-411 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
772 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
298 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
307 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 281845
TORDSM
IAC083-281915-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
144 PM CDT THU JUN 28 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL IOWA
          ...EASTERN HARDIN
 
AT 144 PM...A FUNNEL CLOUD CONTINUES TO BE REPORTED JUST NORTHWEST OF THELDORA AREA...OR ABOUT 40 MILES WEST OF WATERLOO.
 
THE TORNADO CONTINUED MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.  CITIES
POSSIBLY AFFECTED BY THE STORM ARE ELDORA...GIFFORD...UNION...
WHITTEN...AND STEAMBOAT ROCK.
 
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.
 
TRUETT

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 28, 10:50 AM CDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
IAZALL-281630-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1045 AM CDT THU JUN 28 1990

AT 1040 AM...AN ISOLATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER EXTREME
NORTHWEST IOWA...ALONG THE IOWA-MINNESOTA BORDER JUST NORTHWEST OF
ESTHERVILLE...OR ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF SPENCER.  LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES SOUTHEAST
AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...THE SHOWERS IN SOUTHEAST aIOWA CONTINUED TO WEAKEN AND
DISSIPATE.  MOST OF THESE SHOWERS WERE BETWEEN OTTUMWA AND BURLINGTON.

THESE SHOWERS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

TRUETT/BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 12:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
IAZALL-281730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1200 NOON CDT THU JUN 28 1990

AT 1155 AM...AN ISOLATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORM CONTINUED OVER NORTH
CENTRAL IOWA...ABOUT 25 MILES WEST OF MASON CITY IN WESTERN HANCOCK
COUNTY.

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

IN SOUTHEAST IOWA...THE SHOWERS HAD DISSIPATED.

TRUETT/BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 12:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
IAZALL-281830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1243 PM CDT THU JUN 28 1990

AT 1235 PM...A CLUSTER OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH
CENTRAL IOWA...BETWEEN BELMOND AND MASON CITY. BELMOND IS LOCATED 20
SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY.

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
SOUTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...IN
THE CITIES OF SWALDALE...THORTON AND SHEFFIELD SHOULD TAKE SHELTER
AS THIS CLUSTER OF STORMS APPROACHES.

THIS COMPLEX OF STORMS WAS PART OF A LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS
OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST IOWA...GENERALLY NORTH AND EAST OF A
LINE FROM SPEwNCER SOUTHEAST TO CLARION THEN NORTHEAST TO OELWEIN.

BARLOW
Local storm report, Jun 28, 1:03 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
105 PM CDT THU JUNE 28 1990

TIMES CDT

505 AM.....WIND TO 60 MPH NEAR PANORA. /GUTHRIE COUNTY.

907 AM.....GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL NEAR ADEL. /DALLAS COUNTY.

1055 AM....1 MILE VISIBILITY IN HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUST TO 48 MPH AT
           AIRPORT IN ESTHERVILLE. /EMMET COUNTY.

1109 AM....VERY HEAVY RAIN...MARBLE SIZE HAIL AT ARMSTRONG. /EMMET
           COUNTY.

1145 AM....PEAR SIZE HAIL AND 1 INCH OF RAIN IN 20 MINUTES AT BANCROFT.
           /KOSSUTH COUNTY.

1215 PM....50 MPH WINDS AND MARBLE SIZE HAIL AT BELMOND.  /WRIGHT
           COUNTY.

1234 PM....WINDS ESTIMATED AT 59 MPH AT THE CLARION AIRPORT.  /WRIGHT
           COUNTY.

WHE
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 1:03 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
IAZALL-281900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
100 PM CDT THU JUN 28 1990

AT 100 PM...A CLUSTER OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH
CENTRAL IOWA...SOME 15 TO 35 MILES SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF MASON CITY.

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
SOUTHEAST AT NEARLY 50 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
IN THE CITIES OF ACKLEY AND IOWA FALLS SHOULD TAKE SHELTER AS THIS
CLUSTER OF STORMS APPROACHES.

THIS COMPLEX OF STORMS WAS PART OF A LARGER AREA OF SHOWERS AND STORMS
OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST IOWA...GENERALLY NORTH AND EAST OF A
LINE FROM SPENCER SOUTHEAST TO CLARION THEN NORTHEAST TO OELWEIN.

BARLOW
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 1:43 PM CDT, 1 minute before
IAZALL-281935-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
135 PM CDT THU JUN 28 1990

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST IOWA.  AT 129 PM...THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM 40
MILES SOUTHWEST OF WATERLOO NEAR ELDORA TO 25 MILES WEST OF WATERLOO.
HIGH WINDS...HAIL...AND EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINS WILL OCCUR WITH THESE
STORMS.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.  BY 2 PM THESE
STORMS WILL BE LOCATED FROM JUST SOUTH OF WATERLOO TO NEAR MARSHALLTOWN.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO OCCURRING OVER NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST IOWA...NORTHEAST OF A WATERLOO...MASON CITY LINE.

CAB/DLF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 28, 1:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClay63 min
Jun 28, 1:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuena Vista68 min
Jun 28, 1:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas67 min
Jun 28, 2:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Sac64 min
Jun 28, 2:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPalo Alto64 min
Jun 28, 2:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt66 min
Jun 28, 2:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Webster68 min
Jun 28, 4:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Greene52 min
Jun 28, 5:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas35 min
Jun 28, 7:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMonroe32 min
Jun 28, 10:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXEmmet43 min
Jun 28, 11:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth43 min
Jun 28, 11:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock, Winnebago50 min
Jun 28, 11:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth32 min
Jun 28, 12:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright30 min
Jun 28, 12:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo, Franklin51 min
Jun 28, 1:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler51 min
Jun 28, 1:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin26 min
Jun 28, 1:09 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHardin36 min
Jun 28, 1:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy54 min
Jun 28, 1:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk48 min
Jun 28, 1:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall, Tama30 min
Jun 28, 2:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBenton47 min
Jun 28, 2:23 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPoweshiek, Tama37 min
Jun 28, 2:51 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXIowa39 min
Jun 28, 2:51 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBenton23 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.