Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 16, 1995Calhoun County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1995, 1:41 PM CDT for Calhoun County, Iowa. It was in force for 14 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1995, 1:41 PM CDT (18:41 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1995, 1:55 PM CDT
In force
14 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Calhoun County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:44 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 186 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1995-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 243 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1995-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 211 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
243 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-564 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1111 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
214 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 161842
SVRDSM
IAC025-161855-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
141 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1995

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  EASTERN CALHOUN COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 215 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    ROCKWELL CITY
    SOMERS

* AT 140 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR ROCKWELL
CITY OR 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FORT DODGE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE OVER SOMERS AROUND 2 PM CDT.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.




JUNGBLUTH

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, 11:35 AM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
IOWA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IOWA
 1130 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1995

HAZARD... ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HAIL IN EXCESS OF
1 INCH.

AREA OF CONCERN... GENERALLY THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF IOWA...ESPECIALLY
SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80.

TIMING DETAILS... BETWEEN 1130 AND 3 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN IOWA...SOME OF WHICH WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL.  A FEW COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL.

METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS... THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN A WARM AND
MOIST AIRMASS ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA.  THIS IS A TYPICAL SUMMERTIME
PATTERN WITH THUNDERSTORMS OF A PULSE VARIETY. MUCH OF THE TIME THEY
 WILL REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. A FEW COULD PRODUCE THREE QUARTER
PRECAUTIONS... INCH OR LARGER HAIL.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS BE PREPARED FOR HEAVY RAIN AND
HAIL.  SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.

 FAB
Special weather statement, May 16, 11:41 AM CDT, 2 hours before
IOWA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IOWA
1140 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1995

HAZARD... ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HAIL IN EXCESS OF
ONE INCH.

AREA OF CONCERN... GENERALLY THE SOUTHERN QUARTER OF IOWA...ESPECIALLY
SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80.

TIMING DETAILS... BETWEEN 1130 AND 3 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN IOWA...SOME OF WHICH WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL.  A FEW COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL.

METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS... THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN A WARM AND
MOIST AIRMASS ACROSS SOUTHERN IOWA.  THIS IS A TYPICAL SUMMERTIME
PATTERN WITH THUNDERSTORMS OF A PULSE VARIETY. MUCH OF THE TIME THEY
WILL REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. A FEW COULD PRODUCE THREE QUARTER
INCH OR LARGER HAIL.

PRECAUTIONS... IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS BE PREPARED FOR
HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL AND SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.

FAB

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.