Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 9, 1996Decatur County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1996, 10:08 AM CDT for Decatur County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 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 9, 1996, 10:08 AM CDT (15:08 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1996, 10:40 AM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Decatur County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:12 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 9, 10:28 AM CDTHail 1.75Davis City, 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, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 226 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 1996-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 48 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -45 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
48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-50 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 091508
SVRDSM
IAC053-091540-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1008 AM CDT THU MAY 9 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN DECATUR COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1040 AM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    LAMONI
    DAVIS CITY
    PLEASANTON

* AT 1006 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 65 MILES
  SOUTH OF DES MOINES OR JUST WEST OF LAMONI MOVING EAST FAT 35 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR DAVIS CITY AT 1020 AM CDT.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.
FORSTER/SMALL

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 9, 4:49 AM CDT, 5 hours 19 minutes before
IAZALL-091100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
450 AM CDT THU MAY 9 1996

THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST IOWA THROUGH
700 AM CDT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.  NO SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT
IN IOWA AT THIS TIME.

KUBINA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 9:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams30 min
May 8, 10:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair, Union31 min
May 8, 10:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXUnion31 min
May 8, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas29 min
May 8, 11:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk, Warren35 min
May 9, 12:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis34 min
May 9, 12:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClarke, Lucas32 min
May 9, 5:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur30 min
May 9, 6:17 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXDecatur33 min
May 9, 6:35 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXWayne30 min
May 9, 10:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne30 min
May 9, 11:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose34 min
May 9, 11:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis34 min
May 9, 12:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne31 min
May 9, 1:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMonroe30 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.