Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 3, 1996Union County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1996, 6:13 PM CDT for Union County, Iowa. It was in force for 27 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1996, 6:13 PM CDT (23:13 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1996, 6:40 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:15 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 181 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 032310
SVRDSM
IAC175-032340-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
613 PM CDT FRI MAY 3 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  UNION COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 640 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    CRESTON
    AFTON
    CROMWELL

* AT 603 PM CDT SPOTTERS REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 60 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES...OR JUST WEST OF CROMWELL MOVING EAST AT
  40 MPH.  THE STORM PRODUCED PENNY SIZE HAIL 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  PRESCOTT AT 603 PM.

* THE STORM WILL BE CRESTON BY 625 PM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.




MS
 

&

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 30 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams34 min
May 3, 6:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXRinggold34 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.