Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 14, 1991Dubuque County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 14, 1991, 2:01 PM CDT for Dubuque County, Iowa. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1991, 2:01 PM CDT (19:01 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1991, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Dubuque County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 317 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 1991-05-14Temperature 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1991-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2865 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 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 141901
TORDBQ
IAC061-141930-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA
201 PM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DUBUQUE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST IOWA
 
   ...WESTERN DUBUQUE COUNTY
 
AT 200 PM CDT A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER REPORTED AT TORNADO ON THE
GROUND 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF DYERSVILLE 22 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF THE CITY OF DUBUQUE. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
20 MILES AN HOUR.  SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE
DYERSVILLE...NEW VIENNA...BANKSTON AND FIVE POINTS.  THESE CITIES WILL
BE AFFECTED BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 200 PM AND 230 PM CDT.
 
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.
 
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
 
DEROY
 
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, May 14, 11:34 AM CDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-141730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
11 30 AM CDT   TUE MAY 14 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP ACROSS BISTATE AREA NORTH OF QUAD CITIES...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING ACROSS THE
BISTATE AREA THIS MORNING.  THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS HAVE BECOME MORE
ORGANIZED ACROSS EAST CENTRAL IOWA INTO NORTHWEST ILLINOIS SINCE 11 AM
STRETCHING EAST/WEST JUST NORTH OF THE QUAD CITIES.  THEIR MOVEMENT HAS
BEEN A DRIFT TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 10 MPH.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL, STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.

FURTHER THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

DICKEY
Special weather statement, May 14, 12:53 PM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-141830-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
12 40 PM CDT   TUE MAY 14 1991

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WESTERN CLINTON COUNTY IOWA...

THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED ACROSS EAST IOWA INTO NORTHWEST ILLINOIS MORTH
OF THE QUAD CITIES HAVE INCREASED IN INTENSITY IN THE EAST CENTRAL IOWA
SECTION.

AT 12 45 PM A THUNDERSTORM OVER WESTERN CLINTON COUNTY /20 MILES WEST OF
CLINTON/ HAS BECOME VERY STRONG AND MAY BE PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL AND
HAIL.  THIS STORM IS DRIFTING SLOWLY TO THE NORTH AT AROUND 5 MPH.

PERSONS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED
TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

DICKEY
Special weather statement, May 14, 1:34 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-141915-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
1 30 PM CDT   TUE MAY 14 1991

...THUNDERSTORM WESTERN CLINTON COUNTY IOWA DECREASES...

THE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN WESTERN CLINTON COUNTY HAS DECREASED IN
INTENSITY SINCE 12 45 PM.  THIS STORM CONTINUES TO DRIFT SLOWLY TO THE
NORTH AT AROUND 5 MPH.  MEANWHILE FARTHER TO THE NORTHWEST IN LINN AND
PARTS OF JONES COUNTIES, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL
WERE OCCURRING.

CONDITIONS STILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOP ACROSS THE
BISTATE AREA THIS AFTERNOON.

PERSONS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED
TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHEBR APPROACHES.

DICKEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 6:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClayton34 min
May 14, 1:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNDelaware37 min
May 14, 2:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNCedar30 min
May 14, 3:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNMuscatine67 min
May 14, 3:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNScott68 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.