Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1991
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1991, 3:59 PM CDT for Muscatine County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 min. 3 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
- May 17, 1991, 3:59 PM CDT (20:59 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1991, 4:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Muscatine County, IA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 4:10 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Muscatine, IA | |
| May 17, 4:10 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Muscatine, IA | |
| May 17, 4:20 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Muscatine, 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 414 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
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 532 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 6 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 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 KMLI 172059
TORMLI
IAC139-172130-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
359 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY
IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF IOWA
MUSCATINE
AT 355 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES
NORTHWEST OF MUSCATINE IOWA MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
SOME CITIES/TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... MUSCATINE...
WILTON AND DURANT
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.
REPORTS OF TORNADOS OR TORNADO DAMAGE SHOULD BE GIVEN TO A LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...FIND SHELTER IN THE INNERMOST
PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET TO A BASEMENT IF
ONE IS AVAILABLE. AVOID WINDOWS. PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING
DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
MEYER 2057What 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 17, 2:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
IAZ008-ILZ001-WIZ018-172045- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA 255 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR MUCH OF TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL 900 PM CDT... AT 250 PM CDT...NO STORMS WERE IN THE TRI-STATE AREA...HOWEVER THERE WERE STORMS 40 MILES SOUTHWEST AND 60 MILES WEST OF DUBUQUE THAT WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. SEVERE STORMS MAY DEVELOP ANYWHERE OVER THE TRI-STATE AREA THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON...AND TORNADOES SPAWN FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR DANGEROUS STORMS AND IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. GRANT COUNTY AND LAFAYETTE COUNTY IN WISCONSIN...PLUS JO-DAVIES COUNTY IN ILLINOIS ARE $NOT IN THIS WATCH AT THIS TIME BUT MAY ALSO RECEIVE SOME SEVERE WEATHER. KOWALSKI NNNN
Special weather statement, May 17, 3:14 PM CDT, 45 minutes before
IAZ008-ILZ001-WIZ018-172115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA 314 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR MUCH OF TRI-STATE AREA UNTIL 900 PM CDT... AT 310 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE TRI-STATE AREA...NEAR ANAMOSA AND MONTICELLO IN JONES COUNTY...30 TO 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DUBUQUE. ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 40 TO 60 MILES WEST THROUGH SOUTHWEST OF DUBUQUE. MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WERE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH JONES COUNTY. NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS IN THE AREA AT THIS 310 PM CDT. THE TORNADO WATCH DOES NOT INCLUDE GRANT AND GLAFAYETTE COUNTIES IN WISCONSIN...OR JO-DAVIES COUNTY IN ILLINOIS AT THIS TIME. KOWALSKI NNNN
Special weather statement, May 17, 3:24 PM CDT, 35 minutes before
ILZ004-IAZ015-172230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL 320 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE BISTATE AREA... AT 330 PM... RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD THE IOWA PORTIONS OF THE BISTATE AREA. THE STORMS WERE MOVING INTO MUSCATINE AND CEDAR COUNTIES. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL...HEAVY RAINS AND STRONG WINDS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. OTHER STORMS WERE DEVELOPING NEAR KEITHSBURG ILLINOIS. THESE STORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. LAGUE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 3:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Delaware | 59 min |
| May 17, 4:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Scott | 41 min |
| May 17, 4:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Muscatine | 27 min |
| May 17, 5:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Scott | 28 min |
| May 17, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Lee | 62 min |
| May 17, 6:21 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DVN | Scott | 2 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.