Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 17, 1994Howard County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 1994, 7:05 PM CDT for Howard County, Iowa. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 1994, 7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1994, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
55 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, 0.1 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

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 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, Aug 17, 6:06 PM CDT, 59 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, 58 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, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHoward53 min
Aug 17, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHoward, Winneshiek38 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes 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.