Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 9, 1995Story County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1995, 2:49 PM CDT for Story County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 9, 1995, 2:49 PM CDT (19:49 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1995, 3:20 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Story County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:49 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 250 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1995-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 142 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1995-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 19 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
142 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
719 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 091948
TORDSM
IAC169-092020-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
249 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 1995

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN STORY COUNTY - CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 320 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    STORY CITY
    ROLAND
    GILBERT

* AT 247 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF NEVADA
  OR 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF AMES MOVING NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR STORY CITY AT 300 PM.

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

SMALL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 1:37 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll22 min
May 9, 2:50 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPocahontas30 min

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.