Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1991
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1991, 4:48 PM CDT for Muscatine County, Iowa; Rock Island County, Illinois. It was in force for 27 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 17, 1991, 4:48 PM CDT (21:48 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1991, 5:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 27 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Muscatine County, IA, Rock Island County, IL
The nearest sounding before it
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 402 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 172148
TORMLI
IAC139-ILC161-172215-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
448 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF IOWA
EXTREME EASTERN MUSCATINE...
IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF ILLINOIS
SOUTHERN ROCK-ISLAND...
AT 440 PM... A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF
BUFFALO...WHICH IS 12 MILES WEST OF THE QUAD CITIES. THE
STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
SOME CITIES/TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... BUFFALO...
BLUEGRASS...MONTPEIIER...THE QUAD CITY METRO AREA.
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.
ATTN ISP 7 AND 1
LAGUE
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 17, 2:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 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, 1 hour 34 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, 1 hour 24 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
Special weather statement, May 17, 4:41 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
IAZ008-172245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DUBUQUE IA 441 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1991 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR IOWA COUNTIES IN TRI-STATE AREA... AT 435 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE TRI-STATE AREA OVER MUCH OF JACKSON COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS AND WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WERE LOCATED 10 TO 30 MILES SOUTH OF DUBUQUE. ELSE WHERE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE TRI-STATE AREA. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED AS YET OVER THE TRI-STATES...BUT A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. KEEP AN EYE TO THE SKY...AND IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. KOWALSKI NNNN
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, 3:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Muscatine | 31 min |
| May 17, 4:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Scott | 41 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 |
| May 17, 5:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henry, Rock Island, Whiteside | 50 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1991Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 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.