Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Quad Cities, IA

September 12, 1991Jones County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Sep 12, 1991, 5:18 PM CDT for Jones County, Iowa. It was in force for 27 min. 2 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
Sep 12, 1991, 5:18 PM CDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1991, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Jones County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 12, 5:20 PM CDTTornado F0Jones, IA
Sep 12, 5:50 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Jones, 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 359 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1991-09-12Temperature 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1991-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
145 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 KDBQ 122222 COR
TORDBQ
IAC105-122245-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTION FOR TIME...
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
518 PM CDT THU SEP 12 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DUBUQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST IOWA

   ...NORTHERN JONES COUNTY

AT 515 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR NEAR CENTRAL CITY IN
LINN COUNTY...50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DUBUQUE AND MOVING EAST AT 50
MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL BE ENTERING NORTHERN JONES COUNTY FROM NOW
UNTIL 545 PM.

SOME CITIES AFFECTED...MONTICELLO AND LANGWORTHY.

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.
KOWALSKI
NNNN

What 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, Sep 12, 2:27 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
IAZ008-ILZ001-WIZ018-122030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
227 PM CDT THU SEP 12 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL
900 PM CDT...

AT 225 PM CDT...NO PRECIPITATION WAS IN THE TRI-STATE AREA.  HOWEVER
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY AND SOME MAY BECOME
SEVERE.

PERSONS IN THE TRI-STATE AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STORMS THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...LISTEN TO RADIO AND TV BROADCASTS OR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO BROADCASTS FOR LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.

THE ONLY COUNTIES IN THE TRI-STATE AREA NOT IN THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH ARE GRANT AND LAFAYETTE COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN...BUT KEEP
IN MIND THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN OCCUR IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA.
KOWALSKI

NNNN
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 3:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
IAZ008-ILZ001-WIZ018-122145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
336 PM CDT THU SEP 12 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR MOST
OF THE TRI-STATE AREA...

AT 330 PM CDT...NO STORMS WERE DETECTED IN THE TRI-STATE AREA.

STORMS WERE REPORTED NORTHWEST OF WATERLOO AND NORTHEAST OF DES MOINES
AND WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP RAPIDLY...AND PERSONS IN THE TRI-STATE SHOULD BE
ON THE ALERT AND IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED...TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY.
KOWALSKI

NNNN
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 4:28 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-122220-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
4 20 PM CDT  THU SEP 12 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO EAST CENTRAL IOWA...

AT 4 15 PM A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...STRETCHED
FROM WATERLOO IOWA ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTHWEST.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING RAPIDLY EASTWARD AT ABOUT 50 MPH.  AT THE CURRENT RATE
THESE STORMS WILL BE ENTERING THE WESTERN PARTS OF CEDAR AND MUSCATINE
COUNTIES IN IOWA AROUND 5 15 OR 5 30 PM.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS OF 60 TO 70 MPH AND HEAVY RAINFALL WERE ACCOMPANYING
THESE STORMS.

ANOTHER NEW AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHERN CLINTON
COUNTY IOWA SINCE 4 PM.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS APPEAR TO BE MOVING EAST
AT ABOUT 35 MPH.
DICKEY
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 4:29 PM CDT, 49 minutes before
IAZ008-ILZ001-WIZ018-122230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
429 PM CDT THU SEP 12 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MOST OF TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL 900 PM
CDT...

AT 430 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE CLOSER TO THE WESTERN
PART OF THE TRI-STATE AREA.  SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING
SEVERE WEATHER.

THE STORMS WERE LOCATED 60 MILES SOUTHWEST AND WEST OF DUBUQUE MOVING
EAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR...WHICH WILL BRING THEM INTO THE WESTERN PART
OF THE TRI-STATE AREA AROUND 500 PM IF NOT SOONER.

PERSONS IN THE TRI-STATE AREA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THESE THUNDERSTORMS
AND GET TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IMMEDIATELY IF THREATENING WEATHER IS
SIGHTED.
KOWALSKI

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 12, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJones33 min
Sep 12, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar57 min
Sep 12, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware25 min
Sep 12, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJackson38 min
Sep 12, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton, Scott40 min

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.