Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 24, 1996Mahaska County, Marion County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1996, 8:31 AM CDT for Mahaska County, Marion County, Iowa. It was in force for 34 min. 4 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 24, 1996, 8:31 AM CDT (13:31 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1996, 9:05 AM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mahaska County, IA, Marion County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 24, 8:32 AM CDTHail 1Pella, IA
May 24, 8:50 AM CDTHail 1Coal Port, IA
May 24, 9:00 AM CDTHail 1.75New Sharon, IA
May 24, 9:10 AM CDTHail 1Oskaloosa, 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 200 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 1996-05-24Temperature 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 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1996-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 352 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
710 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
352 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
374 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 KDSM 241331
SVRDSM
IAC123-125-241405-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
831 AM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN MAHASKA COUNTY - SOUTHEAST IOWA
  NORTHEASTERN MARION COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 905 AM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    PELLA
    NEW SHARON
    PEORIA

* AT 828 AM CDT SPOTTERS REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
  PELLA...OR 40z MILES SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR NEW SHARON ABOUT 840 AM .

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 24, 4:18 AM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-
092>097-240900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
418 AM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING THROUGH THE I-35 CORRIDOR...FROM
AMES SOUTH TO INDIANOLA. PEA TO MARBLE-SIZED HAIL WAS COMMON
THROUGHOUT THE AREA ALONG WITH REPORTS NEAR 3/4 INCH. WINDS WERE
OCCASIONALLY GUSTING TO 40-50 MPH. RAINFALL AMOUNTS SINCE 3 AM HAVE
BEEN 1 1/2 TO 2 1/2 INCHES.

TEMPORARY FLOODING OF LOW LANDS...DITCHES AND STREETS WILL OCCUR
THROUGH 5 AM. RISING SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL OCCUR THROUGH 10
AM.

THE HEAVIEST OF THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE
MARSHALLTOWN...NEWTON AND KNOXVILLE0 AREAS BY 5 AM.

MYERS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 9:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska48 min
May 24, 9:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion35 min
May 24, 9:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska31 min
May 24, 10:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska32 min
May 24, 11:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Marion47 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.