Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 19, 1996, 4:33 PM CDT for Marion County, Iowa. It was in force for 27 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
- Aug 19, 1996, 4:33 PM CDT (21:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 19, 1996, 5:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 27 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Marion County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 4:34 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Dallas, 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 219 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
- 462 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -35 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 597 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 110 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDSM 192132
SVRDSM
IAC125-192200-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
433 PM CDT MON AUG 19 1996
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
SOUTHERN MARION COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
* UNTIL 500 PM CDT
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
MELCHER-DALLAS
COLUMBIA
CEDAR
* AT 431 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NERAR
MELCHER-DALLAS OR 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES MOVING EAZST AT
25 MPH.
* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR COLUMBIA AND HIGHWAY 14 BY 445 PM.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. DO NOT GO OUTDOORS. ONE INCH DIAMETER
HAIL IS LIKELY.
PYTLAKWhat 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, Aug 19, 3:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
IAZ004>011-015>019-023>030-033>042-044>054-057>064-070>078-081>089- 092>099-191410- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 310 PM CDT MON AUG 19 1996 HAZARD...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN. AREA OF CONCERN...EAST OF LINE FROM ALGONA TO ATLANTIC. TIMING DETAILS...LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS...A COLD FRONT WHICH EXTENDED FROM NORTHWEST MINNESOTA INTO EXTREME NORTHWEST IOWA THIS AFTERNOON WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST. MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR WAS IN PLACE ACROSS IOWA THIS AFTERNOON WITH DEW POINTS IN THE LOWER 70S AND SOUTHERLY WINDS AT 15 KTS...HOWEVER AFTERNOON HEATING HAS BEEN KEPT TO A MINIMUM DUE TO THE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH HAVE EFFECTED MUCH OF THE STATE EARLIER TODAY. WHILE THE AIRMASS IS UNSTABLE...THE GREATEST INSTABILITY IS IN PLACE TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE AREA. FREEZING LEVELS ARE ALSO OVER 14000 FEET...KEEPING LARGE HAIL THREATS LOW. IN ADDITION...UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE FAIRLY WEAK ACROSS THE AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON HOURS AND INTO THIS EVENING ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT...HOWEVER STORMS AT THIS TIME ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH ONLY BRIEF HEAVY RAINS EXPECTED. WITH A FAIRLY FAST MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS AND RAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR FLOODING NEAR 4 INCHES...FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. PRECAUTIONS...INTERESTED PARTIESd SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE WEATHER SITUATION...HOWEVER AT THIS TIME NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. FORSTER/HUNTER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 4:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Adams | 24 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.