Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1990
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Mar 8, 1990, 5:12 PM CST for Cedar County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 8, 1990, 5:12 PM CST (23:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 8, 1990, 5:45 PM CST
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cedar County, IA
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 5:40 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Cedar, IA |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1577 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 101 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -37 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 52 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMLI 082312
TORMLI
IAC031-082345-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
512 PM CST THU MAR 8 1990
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY
IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF IOWA
NORTHERN CEDAR
AT 5 PM A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CEDAR
RAPIDS NEAR SOLON IN NORTHEAST JOHNSON COUNTY. A TORNADO WAS
REPORTED NEAR IOWA CITY AT 445 PM. THE THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED
WITH THESE FUNNELS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST 30 MILES AN HOUR AND
WILL CROSS NORTHERN CEDAR COUNTY.
SOME CITIES/TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... CEDAR BLUFF
MECHANICSVILLE AND STANWOOD.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
IF TIME PERMITS..ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY
YOUR REPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
PHILLIPSWhat 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, Mar 8, 1:37 PM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes before
IAZ008-WIZ018-ILZ001-082200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA 137 PM CST THU MAR 8 1990 ...PATCHY DENSE FOG DEVELOPING AROUND THE TRI-STATE... AT 135 PM CST THE VISIBILITY AT DUBUQUE'S REGIONAL AIRPORT HAD DECREASED TO 3/8 OF A MILE AND COULD DROP TO NEAR ZERO IN MANY LOCATIONS DURING THE AFTERNOON. ROADWAYS ARE LIKELY TO BE WET OR ICE COVERED IN SOME LOCATIONS FROM EARLIER RAINFALL MAKING DRIVING MORE DANGEROUS. TRAVELERS IN AND AROUND THE TRI-STATE THIS AFTERNOON ARE ADVISED TO ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATIONS. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ARE MOST EFFECTIVE IN DENSE FOG. VISIBILITIES ARE ALSO BEING REDUCED TO BELOW A 1/4 OF A MILE IN THE MASON CITY...CITY RAPIDS...AND ROCHESTER AREAS. BEFORE YOU START YOUR TRIP PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK THE LATEST FORECASTS AND ROAD CONDITIONS FROM YOUR LOCAL RADIO AND T.V. STATIONS OR YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADI0 STATION.Q COUCH
Special weather statement, Mar 8, 1:44 PM CST, 3 hours 28 minutes before
IAZ008-WIZ018-ILZ001-082200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA 144 PM CST THU MAR 8 1990 ...PATCHY DENSE FOG DEVELOPING AROUND THE TRI-STATE... AT 135 PM CST THE VISIBILITY AT DUBUQUE'S REGIONAL AIRPORT HAD DECREASED TO 3/8 OF A MILE AND COULD DROP TO NEAR ZERO IN MANY LOCATIONS DURING THE AFTERNOON. ROADWAYS ARE LIKELY TO BE WET OR ICE COVERED IN SOME LOCATIONS FROM EARLIER RAINFALL MAKING DRIVING MORE DANGEROUS. TRAVELERS IN AND AROUND THE TRI-STATE THIS AFTERNOON ARE ADVISED TO ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATIONS. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS ARE MOST EFFECTIVE IN DENSE FOG. VISIBILITIES ARE ALSO BEING REDUCED TO BELOW A 1/4 OF A MILE IN THE MASON CITY...CEDAR RAPIDS...AND ROCHESTER AREAS. BEFORE YOU START YOUR TRIP PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK THE LATEST FORECASTS AND ROAD CONDITIONS FROM YOUR LOCAL RADIO AND T.V. STATIONS OR YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SEZRVICE RADI0 STATION. COUCH CORRECTED SPELLING OF CEDAR RAPIDS
Special weather statement, Mar 8, 2:49 PM CST, 2 hours 23 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-082130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL 245 PM CST THU MAR 8 1990 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE ILLINOIS PORTION OF THE QUAD CITIES AND AREAS SOUTH... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8PM CST FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS. THE ILLINOIS PORTION OF THE QUAD CITIES IS LOCATED IN THE EXTREME NORTHWEST PART OF THE WATCH AREA. ALTHOUGH THE IOWA PORTION OF THE QUAD CITIES IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE WATCH PEOPLE IN THE IOWA PORTION OF THE QUAD CITIES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT SINCE SEVERE WEATHER MAY OCCURCLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. AT 240 PM CST SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTHEAST IOWA AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. ?THE SHOWERS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. FOBERT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 8, 5:47 PM CST | Tornado Warning | DVN | Cedar | 28 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.