Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 166, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 17, 1994Howard County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1994, 8:22 PM CDT for Howard County, Iowa. It was in force for 53 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1994, 8:22 PM CDT (01:22 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1994, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Howard County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 195 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1994-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1975 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1994-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1975 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
713 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 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 KALO 180123 RRA
SVRALO
IAC089-180215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
822 PM CDT WED AUG 17 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WATERLOO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST IOWA
 
   ...HOWARD COUNTY
 
AT 820 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN WATERLOO WAS INDICATING A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DECORAH IN THE MIDDLE OF
HOWARD COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR AND
WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF ELMA...LOURDES...AND CRESCO.
 
THIS STORM HAS HAD THE HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND STRONG
WINDS...ALONG WITH FUNNEL CLOUDS.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...MOVE INSIDE A REINFORCED
BUILDING.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  DON'T USE ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
OR TELEPHONES EXCEPT IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 
 
 
LINDENBERG
 
&

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, Aug 17, 6:06 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
IAZ006>011-016>019-180010-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
607 PM CDT WED AUG 17 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED IN NORTHEAST IOWA...

AT 6PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN WATERLOO WAS SHOWING STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS THAT HAD RAPIDLY DEVELOPED IN NORTHEAST IOWA.  THESE
STORMS WERE LOCATED 20 MILES EAST OF MASON CITY OR JUST EAST OF NORA
SPRINGS.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF ORCHARD...AND OSAGE BY 645PM.

PERSONS IN THESE AREAS CAN EXPECT BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN ALONG
WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL TV...RADIO OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER
UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

LINDENBERG
Special weather statement, Aug 17, 6:07 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
IAZ006>011-016>019-180010-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
607 PM CDT WED AUG 17 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED IN NORTHEAST IOWA...

AT 6PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN WATERLOO WAS SHOWING STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS THAT HAD RAPIDLY DEVELOPED IN NORTHEAST IOWA.  THESE
STORMS WERE LOCATED 20 MILES EAST OF MASON CITY OR JUST EAST OF NORA
SPRINGS.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF ORCHARD...AND OSAGE BY 645PM.

PERSONS IN THESE AREAS CAN EXPECT BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN ALONG
WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL TV...RADIO OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER
UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

LINDENBERG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 7:05 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHoward55 min
Aug 17, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHoward, Winneshiek38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1994Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1994

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.