Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Des Moines, IA

March 22, 1991Cass County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 22, 1991, 2:08 PM CST for Cass County, Iowa. It was in force for 67 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 22, 1991, 2:08 PM CST (20:08 UTC)
Expired
Mar 22, 1991, 3:15 PM CST
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Cass County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 22, 2:40 PM CSTHail 0.88Cass, 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

Omaha, NE (KOVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 120 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1991-03-22Temperature 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1991-03-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 362 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
1611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
84 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
362 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
392 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 22, 10:19 AM CST, 3 hours 49 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Mar 22, 10:50 AM CST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Mar 22, 11:13 AM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Mar 22, 11:17 AM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Mar 22, 1:03 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before
IAZ001-002-004-006-222200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
100 PM CST FRI MAR 22 1991

...A WINTER STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL
   IOWA LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY...

A WINTER STORM WATCH IS POSTED FOR NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
FOR LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.  SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH
ARE ALGONA...FORT DODGE...MASON CITY...SIOUX CITY...AND SPENCER.

A STORM SYSTEM OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AT NOON WILL CONTINUE TO
INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA BY EVENING.  THE STORM WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS IOWA OVERNIGHT.

IN THIS WATCH AREA...RAIN AND SOME THUNDERSHOWERS ARE LIKELY INTO THE
EVENING HOURS.  THE RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER TO WET SNOW LATE
TONIGHT.  TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED TO BE LESS THAN SIX
INCHES.  HOWEVER...STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL BE OCCURRING WHEN THE
THE CHANGEOVER FROM RAIN TO SNOW TAKES PLACE.  THIS WILL CAUSE
CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF ANY SNOW THAT FALLS.

PEOPLE LIVING IN NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA SHOULD MONITOR THE
SITUATION CAREFULLY AND MAKE APPROPRIATE PREPARATIONS.  PEOPLE PLANNING
TRAVEL INTO NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL IOWA AND ADJACENT AREAS OF
NEBRASKA...SOUTH DAKOTA AND MINNESOTA LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY SHOULD
ALSO MONITOR THE DEVELOPING STORM CAREFULLY.

ELLIS
Special weather statement, Mar 22, 1:48 PM CST, 20 minutes before
IAZALL-222030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
146 PM CST FRI MAR 22 1991

AT 135 PM...A 10 MILE WIDE BAND OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD
DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHWEST INTO WEST CENTRAL IOWA. THESE STORMS WERE
LOCATED FROM 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS...OR JUST
EAST OF SHENANDOAH NORTH TO AVOCA WHICH IS ABOUT 60 MILES WEST OF
DES MOINES. VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

THESE STORMS WERE PART OF AN EXPANDING AREA OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...MOST OF WHICH WERE LOCATED 50 MILES
EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS NORTHEAST TO ABOUT 30U
MILES NORTHEAST OF WATERLOO.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR...AS
AREAL COVERAGE AND INTENSITY WERE INCREASING.

BARLOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 22, 3:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie50 min
Mar 22, 3:58 PM CSTTornado WarningDMXBoone32 min
Mar 22, 4:14 PM CSTTornado WarningDMXBoone29 min
Mar 22, 4:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory36 min
Mar 22, 4:34 PM CSTTornado WarningDMXStory26 min
Mar 22, 5:02 PM CSTTornado WarningDMXHardin28 min
Mar 22, 5:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose, Davis27 min
Mar 22, 5:28 PM CSTTornado WarningDMXGrundy47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1991

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.