Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Quad Cities, IA

March 13, 1990Scott County, Iowa; Rock Island County, Illinois

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1990, 4:26 PM CST for Scott County, Iowa; Rock Island County, Illinois. It was in force for 34 min. 4 reports 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 13, 1990, 4:26 PM CST (22:26 UTC)
Expired: Mar 13, 1990, 5:00 PM CST
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Scott County, IA, Rock Island County, IL

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
Mar 13, 4:42 PM CST	Tornado F0	Scott, IA
Mar 13, 4:45 PM CST	Tornado F3	Scott, IA
Mar 13, 4:46 PM CST	Tornado F3	Rock Island, IL
Mar 13, 4:55 PM CST	Tornado F1	Scott, 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 384 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: 1706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 45 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 132226
TORMLI
IAC163-ILC161-132300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
426 PM CST TUE MAR 13 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF IOWA
      EASTERN SCOTT...

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

AT 420 PM A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS FORMING OVER THE QUAD CITY
AIRPORT IN MOLINE.

THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME CITIES/TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... NORTHERN
AND EASTERN PARTS OF THE QUAD CITIES...LECLAIRE AND PRINCETON.

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.

ATTN ISP 7 AND 1

PHILLIPS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 13, 12:39 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Cedar	31 min
Mar 13, 1:40 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Clinton	20 min
Mar 13, 1:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Clinton	32 min
Mar 13, 2:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Jones	50 min
Mar 13, 3:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Scott	45 min
Mar 13, 4:59 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Clinton, Scott	31 min
Mar 13, 5:01 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Delaware	29 min
Mar 13, 5:09 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Dubuque, Jones	36 min
Mar 13, 5:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Dubuque	35 min
Mar 13, 5:31 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Clinton	29 min
Mar 13, 5:37 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Delaware	38 min
Mar 13, 5:39 PM CST	Tornado Warning	DVN	Cedar, Muscatine	36 min
Mar 13, 3:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Mercer, Rock Island	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1990 Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.