Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 9, 1995Louisa County, Muscatine County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1995, 3:18 PM CDT for Louisa County, Muscatine County, Iowa. It was in force for 42 min. 2 reports 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 9, 1995, 3:18 PM CDT (20:18 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1995, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 9, 3:43 PM CDTTornado F0Muscatine, IACapt. Lowell Snyder of the Muscatine County Sheriff's Department was pelted with marble- to golf ball-size hail and reported that Iowa 22 west of Muscatine was covered within minutes. He couldn't hear his dispatcher because of the hail pounding his car. Capt
May 9, 3:43 PM CDTTornado F0Muscatine, 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 65 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°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 KMLI 092019
TORMLI
IAC139-115-092100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
318 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN QUAD CITIES IA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA
 
   ...MUSCATINE COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
 
   ...LOUISA COUNTY
 
AT 317 PM CDT...A SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 5 TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF
WAPELLO. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO DEVELOPING NEAR
WAPELLO. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTH AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE
JUST WEST OF MUSCATINE BY 345 PM. EXPECT LARGE HAIL WITH THIS STORM
ALSO.
 
IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLER STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS!
 
HELGESON

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 9, 1:02 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-009-
015>018-024>026-034-035-091900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
103 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PORTION OF SOUTHEAST IOWA
UNTIL 7PM CDT...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHEAST IOWA COUNTIES OF
KEOKUK... JEFFERSON AND VAN BUREN UNTIL 7PM CDT. THIS INCLUDES THE
COMMUNITIES OF SIGOURNEY... FAIRFIELD AND KEOSAUQUA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL
DEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THESE
STORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE REST OF THE TWO STATE LATER THIS
AFTERNOON ANBD EVENING. SOME OF THESE COULD BECOME SEVERE ALSO.

HENDRICKS
Special weather statement, May 9, 3:07 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-009-
015>018-024>026-034-035-092300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
307 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR KEOKUK... JEFFERSON AND VAN BUREN
COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST IOWA UNTIL 7PM CDT...
...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TWO STATE
REGION UNTIL 9PM CDT...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHEAST IOWA COUNTIES OF
KEOKUK... JEFFERSON AND VAN BUREN UNTIL 7PM CDT. ANOTHER TORNADO WATCH
HAS JUST BEEN ISSUED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TWO STATE REGION UNTIL
9PM CDT. THIS INCLUDES THE QUAD CITIES... BURLINGTON... DUBUQUE...
FREEPORT... PRINCE*TON... MUSCATINE AND GENESEO.

HENDRICKS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson30 min
May 9, 3:51 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNCedar, Muscatine54 min
May 9, 3:51 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNLouisa54 min
May 9, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton, Linn48 min
May 9, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDes Moines53 min
May 9, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNScott66 min
May 9, 4:33 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNScott42 min
May 9, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJones50 min
May 9, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Clinton58 min
May 9, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMuscatine15 min
May 9, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNClinton, Scott51 min
May 9, 5:14 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNJones, Linn46 min
May 9, 5:58 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNClinton47 min
May 9, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware, Dubuque60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.