Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 19, 1996Howard County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 19, 1996, 2:40 AM CDT for Howard County, Iowa. It was in force for 35 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 19, 1996, 2:40 AM CDT (07:40 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1996, 3:15 AM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Howard County, IA

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 195 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-231 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2274 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 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 KALO 190742
SVRALO
IAC089-190815-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WATERLOO IA
240 AM CDT SUN MAY 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WATERLOO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST IOWA
 
   ...HOWARD COUNTY
 
AT 239 AM...RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF FAST MOVING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
ENTERING HOWARD COUNTY 30 MILES WEST OF DECORAH. THE TOWNS OF LIME
SPRING AND CRESCO ARE IN THE IMMEDIATE PATH OF THIS STORM. WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH ARE LIKELY.
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE SEEK SHELTER AT
ONCE INSIDE A REINFORCED BUILDING. PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
 
 
DERNER

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 19, 2:31 AM CDT, 9 minutes before
IAZ004-005-015-023-190900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
231 AM CDT SUN MAY 19 1996

THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR EMMET...PALO ALTO...
POCAHONTAS...AND KOSS|UTH COUNTIES. HOWEVER...IT REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 400 AM IN WINNEBAGO...HANCOCK AND WORTH COUNTIES.

PYTLAK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 1:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth22 min
May 19, 3:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWinneshiek32 min
May 19, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer33 min
May 19, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFayette51 min
May 19, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall32 min
May 19, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk33 min
May 19, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall31 min
May 19, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTama32 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.