Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1996, 3:01 PM CDT for Decatur County, Iowa. It was in force for 29 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, 3:01 PM CDT (20:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 27, 1996, 3:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 29 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 20:01 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 3:34 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Grand River, 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, 8.0 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDSM 272001
TORDSM
IAC053-272030-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
301 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
* TORNADO WARNING FOR
DECATUR COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
* UNTIL 330 PM CDT
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
LAMONI
DECATUR
DAVIS CITY
LEON
* AT 255 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
INTO DECTATUR COUNTY. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
FUNNEL CLOUDS...A FEW OF WHICH COULD BRIEFLY TOUCH DOWN. THE STORMS
ARE NEAR LAMONI OR ABOUT 70 MILES SOUTH OF DES MOINES MOVING NORTH
AT 30 MPH.
* THE STORM WILL BE IN LAMONI BY 305 PM CDT.
IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN THE
LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.
FABWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 27, 12:58 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-272100-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1255 PM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
...STRONG WINDS OVER NORTHERN IOWA...
EAST WINDS WERE INCREASING OVER NORTHERN IOWA IN RESPONSE TO A
STRENGTHENING LOW OVER NEBRASKA. WIND SPEEDS WILL BE SUSTAINED AT 20
TO 30 MPH WITH FREQUENT GUSTS TO 40 TO 45 MPH.
THESE WIND SPEEDS...ALTHOUGH STRONG...ARE BELOW HIGH WIND CRITERIA SO
A "WARNING OR ADVISORY IS NOT WARRANTED.
IF YOU GO OUTSIDE OR MUST TRAVEL THIS AFTERNOON BE PREPARED FOR SUDDEN
STRONG GUSTS OF WIND. THE WIND GUSTS COULD ALSO CREATE DIFFICULTY IN
MAINTAINING CONTROL OF YOUR VEHICLE.
FABThe office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 2:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Ringgold | 32 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.