Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 14, 1991Cerro Gordo County, Hancock County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1991, 5:22 PM CDT for Cerro Gordo County, Hancock County, Iowa. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1991, 5:22 PM CDT (22:22 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1991, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cerro Gordo County, IA, Hancock County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 197 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 1991-05-14Temperature 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1991-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 120 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
3158 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 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

Local storm report, May 14, 4:04 PM CDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 14, 4:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 14, 4:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 14, 4:33 PM CDT, 49 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 14, 4:53 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
IAZALL-142245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
452 PM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN IOWA FOR TONIGHT...

AT 434 PM...SHOWERS AND INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER EAST
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST IOWA.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS OCCURRING 20 MILES
NORTH OF OTTUMWA.  THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...DEADLY
LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER NORTH CENTRAL IOWA AS WELL.  THE
STRONGEST STORM WAS OCCURRING 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF MASON CITY.  THIS
STORM WAS ALSO PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG
GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW/KALLMAN
Special weather statement, May 14, 5:19 PM CDT, 3 minutes before
IAZALL-142315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND IOWA WEATHER UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
515 PM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN IOWA FOR TONIGHT...

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST IOWA UNTIL 11 PM...

AT 510 PM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER CENTRAL AND
NORTH CENTRAL IOWA...EXTENDING FROM 20 MILES WEST OF DES MOINES TO NEAR
MASON CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTHWEST AND 10
MILES SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY.  THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND HAIL.

THE PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTH AT AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR.

SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO OVER SOUTHEAST IOWA FROM 25
MILES NORTH OF OTTUMWA TO 10 MILES WEST OF BURLINGTON.

THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

BARLOW/KALLMAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 8:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLucas42 min
May 14, 8:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Polk, Story46 min
May 14, 9:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone42 min
May 14, 9:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLucas45 min
May 14, 9:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall47 min
May 14, 10:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne45 min
May 14, 10:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy69 min
May 14, 10:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne40 min
May 14, 11:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose40 min
May 14, 11:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuchanan58 min
May 14, 11:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk64 min
May 14, 12:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFayette38 min
May 14, 12:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk41 min
May 14, 12:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBenton47 min
May 14, 1:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLinn44 min
May 14, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuchanan33 min
May 14, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLinn45 min
May 14, 1:40 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXLinn35 min
May 14, 1:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBenton21 min
May 14, 2:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBenton66 min
May 14, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright40 min
May 14, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright41 min
May 14, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk, Warren63 min
May 14, 6:56 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPolk34 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.