Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 27, 1996Ringgold County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1996, 2:53 PM CDT for Ringgold 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 27, 1996, 2:53 PM CDT (19:53 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 3:25 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Ringgold County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:55 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 27, 2:55 PM CDTTornado F0Mt Ayr, 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 190 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 1996-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 787 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 1996-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
787 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-261 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
546 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 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 271953
TORDSM
IAC159-272025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
253 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EASTERN RINGGOLD COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 325 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    MT AYR
    KELLERTON
    ELLSTON
    TINGLEY

* AT 250 PM CDT SPOTTERS REPORTED NUMEROUS FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH BRIEF
TOUCHDOWNS OF A TORNADO 70 MILES SW OF DES MOINES MOVING NORTH AT
25 MPH.  MINOR DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN TAYLOR COUNTY AS THESE STORMS
PASSED THROUGH THAT COUNTY.

* THE STORM WILL BE MT AYR TINGLEY AND ELSTON BY 3 PM CDT.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN THE
LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

FAB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 3:01 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDecatur29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.