Alert archive / Illinois / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Quad Cities, IA

June 16, 1990Rock Island County, Whiteside County, Illinois; Clinton County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 16, 1990, 11:52 AM CDT for Rock Island County, Whiteside County, Illinois; Clinton County, Iowa. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 1990, 11:52 AM CDT (16:52 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1990, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clinton County, IA, Rock Island County, IL, Whiteside County, IL

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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 358 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1990-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 158 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
1259 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
170 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 KMLI 161652
FFWMLI
IAC163-045-031-ILC161-195-162100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
1152 AM CDT SAT JUN 16 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF IOWA
      SCOTT...CLINTON...CEDAR...

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF ILLINOIS
      NORTHERN ROCK-ISLAND...WHITESIDE...

HEAVY RAINFALLS OF 3 TO NEAR 6 INCHES WERE COMMON OVER PARTS OF
EAST CENTRAL IOWA AND NORTHWEST ILLINOIS....FROM THE MUSCATINE
AREA THRU THE QUAD CITIES AND CLINTON AREA.

THIS HEAVY RAIN WAS STILL CAUSING SHARP RISES ON AREA STREAMS AND
RIVERS.  THE WAPSIPINICON RIVER WAS BANKFULL AND STILL RISING.

RADAR SHOWS MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM IOWA
CITY TO DAVENPORT TO NEAR STERLING.  THESE SHOWERS WILL CAUSE
ADDITONAL RISES ON AREA STREAMS AND RIVERS.

FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT IN THE SPECIFIED AREA.

PERSONS ALONG OR NEAR STREAMS SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING OR SHARP
RISES SHOULD BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IMMEDIATELY.

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.

IF TIME PERMITS...ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORECMENT AGENCY TO RELAY
YObUR REPORT OF FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

ATTN ISP 7 AND 1

KRAEMER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 16, 7:39 AM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-161330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
740 AM CDT SAT JUN 16 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST IOWA UNTIL 11 AM CDT...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL CONTINUE TO TRACK
ACROSS EXTREME EAST CENTRAL IOWA.

AT 730 AM CDT...RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN SCOTT
AND EASTERN MUSCATINE COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA...20 MILES NORTH
OF MOLINE NEAR DONAHUE TO 20 WEST OF MOLINE AROUND MUSCATINE.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED VERY HEAVY RAIN AND LOCALIZED
FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED AROUND WILTON IN NORTHERN MUSCATINE COUNTY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL
MOVE THROUGH SCOTT COUNTY IOWA BETWEEN 745 AM AND 845 AM CDT.
FOBERT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 7:52 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNRock Island4 hr
Jun 16, 8:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNWhiteside3 hr
Jun 16, 4:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNRock Island3 hr
Jun 16, 4:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNWhiteside3 hr
Jun 16, 4:18 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMercer27 min
Jun 16, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHenry, Whiteside38 min
Jun 16, 7:52 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNCedar, Clinton, Muscatine, Scott4 hr
Jun 16, 10:35 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNJones4 hr
Jun 16, 11:52 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNCedar, Scott4 hr
Jun 16, 1:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNJones4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Illinois, 1990Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 1990Every flash flood 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.