Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1996, 5:46 PM CDT for Adams 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 3, 1996, 5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1996, 6:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Adams County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:45 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 6:03 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Prescott, 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 144 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 830 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 21 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 32 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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 3, 3:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
IAZ033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-092>097-032310- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 340 PM CDT FRI MAY 3 1996 HAZARD...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WHICH MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND WINDS AFTER 500 PM. AREA OF CONCERN...SOUTHERN QUARTER OF IOWA...MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A CRESTON TO CHARITON TO WASHINGTON LINE. TIMING DETAILS...BETWEEN 5 AND 9 PM. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS...A WARM FRONT LOCATED ACROSS PARTS OF KANSAS AND MISSOURI WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO REMAIN JUST SOUTH OF IOWA. HOWEVER...SUNSHINE HAS WARMED THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF IOWA EVEN THOUGH NORTHEASTERLY SURFACE WINDS ARE IN PLACE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG I-80 FROM DES MOINES INTO NEBRASKA WILL DEVELOP SOUTH INTO THE WARMER AIR AFTER 500 PM. ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF IOWA MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. PRECAUTIONS...CONTINUE MONITORING. JUNGBLUTH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Union | 27 min |
| May 3, 6:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Ringgold | 34 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996
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.