Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 4, 1994Emmet County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1994, 3:13 PM CDT for Emmet County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 1994, 3:13 PM CDT (20:13 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1994, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Emmet County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 185 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 12:00Z on 1994-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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 12:00Z on 1994-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 102 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
864 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 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 KDSM 042013
TORDSM
IAC063-042045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
313 PM CDT WED MAY 4 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST IOWA
 
   ...EASTERN EMMET COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED EAST OF DOLLIVER...ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF
SPENCER. THE STORM ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
25 MILES AN HOUR. CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO IS ARMSTRONG.
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
 
JM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClay39 min
May 4, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas36 min
May 4, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBuena Vista48 min
May 4, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun33 min
May 4, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie29 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.