Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1992

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 16, 1992Mitchell County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1992, 5:08 PM CDT for Mitchell County, Iowa. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 1992, 5:08 PM CDT (22:08 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1992, 5:45 PM CDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Whole counties

County Mitchell County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 178 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 657 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 285 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 16, 1:28 PM CDT, 3 hours 40 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 16, 3:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 16, 3:46 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 16, 3:51 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before

IAZALL-162140-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...COR FOR TORNADO WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
350 PM CDT SAT MAY 16 1992

.....A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
IOWA UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

AT 3 30 PM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER NORTH CENTRAL
IOWA 15 TO 20 MILES WEST OF MASON CITY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
PRODUCING HAIL...DAMAGING WIND UP TO 50 MILES AN HOUR...AND VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL.  AT 3 20 PM A REPORT WAS RECEIVED OF 1 INCH HAIL 5 MILES WEST
OF NORTHWOOD.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE URGED TO MONITOR WEATHER REPORTS
AND SEEK SHELTER IF A STORM APPROACHES.

THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS WERE MOVING NOURTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR...
HOWEVER THE STORMS SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPING TO THE SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL
AND NORTHWEST IOWA.
/
MILLER

Special weather statement, May 16, 4:16 PM CDT, 52 minutes before

IAZALL-162215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND WEATHER UPDATE FOR IOWA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
415 PM CDT SAT MAY 16 1992

AT 405 PM...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER NORTH CENTRAL
IOWA.  THESE STORMS WERE LOCATED IN A 10 MILE WIDE LINE THAT EXTENDED
FROM NEAR BODE...25 MILES NORTH OF FORT DODGE...TO THE MINNESOTA BORDER
20 MILES NORTH OF MASON CITY.  WIND GUSTS OF 80 MILES AN HOUR WERE
RECORDED AT MASON CITY AT 345 PM.  HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN ALSO
BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE URGED TO EXCERCISE CAUTION...
MONITOR WEATHER REPORTS...AND SEEK SHELTER IF NECESSARY.

THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO4 40 MILES AN HOUR...
HOWEVER THE STORM SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPINT TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST.

THE OUTLOOK THROUGH 5 PM...CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF INTENSE THUNDER-
STORMS INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST IOWA...AND MOVING INTO NORTHEAST IOWA.
/
MILLER

Special weather statement, May 16, 4:42 PM CDT, 26 minutes before

IAZALL-162240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
440 PM CDT SAT MAY 16 1992

.....A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
IOWA UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

AT 4 25 PM CDT...VERY STRONG AND INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER
NORTHWEST...NORTH CENTRAL...AND NORTHEAST IOWA.  THE 10 TO 15 MILE WIDE
LINE OF STORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR LAKE CITY...65 MILE NORTHWEST OF DES
MOINES...TO THE MASON CITY AREA...TO THE MINNESOTA BORDER 30 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED 20 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY IN SOUTHEAST HANCOCK COUNTY AND NEAR LUVERNE
...45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY.  THESE STORMS CONTAIN VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING AND COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE
HAIL.

ALSO...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DETECTED OVER NORTHWEST IOWA NEAR
CORRECTIONVILLE AND HOLSTEIN...30 TO 40 MILES EAST OF SIOUX CITY.
/
THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR...HOWEVER THE
SYSTEM OF STORMS WAS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST.

MILLER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 3:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Worth	39 min
May 16, 3:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Hancock	40 min
May 16, 4:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Hancock	50 min
May 16, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Floyd	40 min
May 16, 6:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun, Sac	25 min
May 16, 6:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Pocahontas	37 min
May 16, 6:26 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo	4 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1992 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1992

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.