Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 8, 1995Franklin County, Wright County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 1995, 9:27 PM CDT for Franklin County, Wright County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 1995, 9:27 PM CDT (02:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1995, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Franklin County, IA, Wright County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:31 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 236 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 1995-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1496 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1995-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1043 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 090228 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC069-197-090300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
927 PM CDT SAT JUL 8 1995

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  WESTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  EASTERN WRIGHT COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    LATIMER
    ALEXANDER
    ROWAN

* AT 924 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR MESERVEY OR
  22 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR ALEXANDER AT 935 PM.


THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.





FORSTER
 
SEEK SHELTER INDOORS WHEN THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH. ALL THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUXCE DANGEROUS CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING.

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, Jul 8, 4:03 PM CDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
IAZALL-220200-

IOWA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
403 PM CDT SAT JUL 8 1995

HAZARD...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH. SOME LARGE HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

AREA OF CONCERN...THE WEST TWO-THIRDS OF IOWA...WEST OF A LINE FROM
DECORAH TO CENTERVILLE.

TIMING DETAILS...THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL LAST FROM JUST
AFTER SUNSET TO AROUND 400 AM SATURDAY MORNING. SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHERN MISSOURI MAY MAKE IT INTO FAR
SOUTHWEST IOWA BEFORE DISSIPATING LATER THIS EVENING. MORE
THUNDERSTORMS FIRING OVER SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA WILL INTENSIFY
AND MOVE INTO WESTERN IOWA AFTER DARK. THE BEST THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER WILL ACCOMPANY THE STORMS MOVING IN FROM THE WEST.

METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS...A MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEM IS LIKELY TO
FORM OVER IOWA TONIGHT AS A WEAK DISTURBANCE ENTERING WESTERN KANSAS
AND NEBRASKA INTERACTS WITH A WARM FRONT MOVING NORTH TOWARD IOWA.
UNLIKE TYPICAL THUNDERSTORMS...THESE WILL RUN ON INSTABILITY GENERATED
ABOVE THE GROUND. WINDS ABOUT 3000 FEET UP WILL ACCELERATE TO AROUND
35 MPH TONIGHT...WHICH WILL HELP FEED DEVELOPMENT. THAT...AND COOLING
MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES...WILL ALLOW THESE STORMS TO REMAIN STRONG FOR
MUCH OF THE NIGHT. IN THESE CASES...SEVERE WEATHER IS USUALLY NOT
WIDESPREAD BECAUSE THE THUNDERSTORMS FORM IN CLUSTERS. THAT TENDS TO
LIMIT THE AVAILABLE INFLOW INTO THE STORMS.

PRECAUTIONS...ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE WILL DO SO UNDER
THE COVER OF DARKNESS...MAKING THE DANGERS HARD TO SEE. SPOTTER
ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER THIS EVENING INTO THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS.

PYTLAK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 9:33 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWright32 min
Jul 8, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright31 min
Jul 8, 10:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton43 min
Jul 8, 10:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHamilton31 min
Jul 8, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory46 min

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.