Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 27, 1995Decatur County, Ringgold County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1995, 10:11 PM CDT for Decatur County, Ringgold County, Iowa. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 1995, 10:11 PM CDT (03:11 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1995, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Decatur County, IA, Ringgold County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:58 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 27, 10:19 PM CDTTornado F1Mt Ayr To, IA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 208 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1010 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 98 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
1010 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1189 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 280314
TORDSM
IAC053-159-280345-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1011 PM CDT SAT MAY 27 1995

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHWESTERN DECATUR COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
  EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN RINGGOLD COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    LAMONI
    DAVIS CITY
    HIGHWAY J55...10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MT AYR

* AT 1012 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 80 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES
  MOINES...NEAR LAMONI MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR LAMONI BY 1025 PM CDT.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN THE
LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

MS MAY 95

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, May 27, 4:35 PM CDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before
IAZALL-272300-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IOWA
435 PM CDT SAT MAY 27 1995

HAZARD...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH COULD BE TORNADIC IN SOUTHWEST
IOWA.

AREA OF CONCERN...SOUTHWEST IOWA....ROUGHLY SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM
SIOUX CITY TO LAMONI.

TIMING AND DETAILS...THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP AT ANYTIME...FROM NOW
THROUGH THIS EVENING.

METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS...VERY UNSTABLE AIR HAS MOVED INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA
ALONG WITH A WARM FRONT WHICH IS NOW LOCATED FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS TO
OSCEOLA.

PRECAUTIONS...SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD CONCIDER ACTIVATION IN SOUTHWEST
IOWA.  A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM IN WESTERN IOWA.
WATCHES MAY BE EXPENADED FARTHER EAST DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

 BELLES
Special weather statement, May 27, 6:29 PM CDT, 3 hours 42 minutes before
IAZALL-280100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IOWA
628 PM CDT SAT MAY 27 1995

THE TORNADO WATCH FOR A SMALL PART OF WESTERN IOWA VALID UNTIL 800
PM THIS EVENING HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A NEW TORNADO WATCH.  HENCE...
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 482 HAS BEEN CANCELLED...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER
484 VALID UNTIL 100 AM CDT SUNDAY COVERS ABOUT THE WEST HALF OF THE
STATE.

A LINE OF STRONG...OCCASIONALLY SEVERE...THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVTELOPING
EAST INTO IOWA.  THE LINE EXTENDED ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER AT 625 PM
THIS EVENING.  THE INDIVIDUAL STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AROUND 40 MPH
WHILE THE LINE IS WORKING EAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH.

MS MAY 95
Special weather statement, May 27, 9:54 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
IAZ035-280325-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR IOWA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
953 PM CDT SAT MAY 27 1995

...TORANDO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1015 PM FOR NORTHERN WEBSTER
COUNTY...

RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FORT DODGE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  THERE WAS ALSO A REPORT OF A TORNADO BETWEEN
MOORLAN AND FORT DODGE AT 957 PM. THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO FORT DODGE
BY 1005 PM.

TAKE COVER NOW...THIS IS A DANGEROUJS SITUATION.

JOHNSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Sac28 min
May 27, 7:23 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll, Sac22 min
May 27, 7:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun, Sac34 min
May 27, 7:57 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdair, Union33 min
May 27, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCass32 min
May 27, 8:07 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCrawford18 min
May 27, 8:13 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun, Sac32 min
May 27, 8:18 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll32 min
May 27, 8:20 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGreene, Guthrie35 min
May 27, 8:25 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdair35 min
May 27, 8:47 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPocahontas33 min
May 27, 8:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGuthrie36 min
May 27, 8:51 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll34 min
May 27, 8:59 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas31 min
May 27, 9:02 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun, Sac16 min
May 27, 9:05 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGreene35 min
May 27, 9:11 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGreene29 min
May 27, 9:20 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun, Webster25 min
May 27, 9:32 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdams, Union28 min
May 27, 9:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWebster31 min
May 27, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie31 min
May 27, 10:26 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas34 min
May 27, 10:31 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDecatur29 min
May 27, 10:56 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDecatur15 min
May 27, 10:56 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXClarke34 min
May 27, 11:35 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBoone35 min
May 28, 1:19 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXGuthrie2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.