Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 18, 1994Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1994, 6:02 PM CDT for Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 18, 1994, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1994, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Cerro Gordo County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 1994-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1994-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -147 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1093 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-147 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-134 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 182302
TORALO
IAC033-182330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
602 PM CDT SAT JUN 18 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WATERLOO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
 
   ...WESTERN CERRO GORDO COUNTY
 
AT 602 PM A TROOPER REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND JUST WEST OF CLEAR
LAKE...5 MILES WEST OF MASON CITY.
 
RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE CLEAR LAKE AND VENTURA
AREAS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH.
 
PEOPLE LIVING IN CLEAR LAKE...FERTILE AND VENTURA SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO ENSURE YOUR SAFETY.
 
 
DURING A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER
A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.  IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
COLLAR/PABST
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWinnebago, Worth35 min
Jun 17, 9:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGreene27 min
Jun 18, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHancock33 min
Jun 18, 6:37 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHumboldt, Kossuth38 min
Jun 18, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHancock34 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.