Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1991
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1991, 3:53 PM CDT for Johnson County, Iowa. It was in force for 37 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 17, 1991, 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1991, 4:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Johnson County, IA
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 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
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -30 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 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 KDSM 172053 TORDSM IAC103-172130- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 353 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA ...JOHNSON COUNTY AT 350 PM CDT REPORTS OF NUMEROUS FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED IN EXTREME NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY AND PARTS OF JOHNSON COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH. THE STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR KALONA IOWA SOME 35 MILES SOUTH OF CEDAR RAPIDS. SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WARNING WERE HILLS...IOWA CITY...CORALVILLE AND NORTH LIBERTY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 1:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wright | 36 min |
| May 17, 2:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Hamilton, Wright | 25 min |
| May 17, 2:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wright | 40 min |
| May 17, 3:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Greene | 44 min |
| May 17, 3:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Black Hawk | 58 min |
| May 17, 4:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Hamilton, Webster | 33 min |
| May 17, 4:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Appanoose, Davis | 44 min |
| May 17, 4:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Floyd | 38 min |
| May 17, 4:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Butler, Grundy | 68 min |
| May 17, 4:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Wright | 50 min |
| May 17, 5:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Benton, Iowa | 46 min |
| May 17, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Van Buren | 48 min |
| May 17, 5:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Iowa, Johnson, Linn | 69 min |
| May 17, 5:45 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DMX | Hamilton, Hardin, Humboldt, Webster, Wright | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes 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.