Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Quad Cities, IA

April 19, 1996Des Moines County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1996, 5:35 PM CDT for Des Moines County, Iowa. It was in force for 25 min. 3 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
Apr 19, 1996, 5:35 PM CDT (22:35 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1996, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Des Moines County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:36 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 19, 5:41 PM CDTHail 1.75Danville, IA
Apr 19, 5:47 PM CDTHail 1Huron, IA
Apr 19, 5:49 PM CDTHail 1Mediapolis, 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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1996-04-19Temperature 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 1996-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2244 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
225 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 KMLI 192236
TORMLI
IAC057-192300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
535 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN QUAD CITIES IA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
 
   ...NORTHERN DES MOINES COUNTY
 
AT 535 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
DEVELOPING TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF BURLINGTON MOVING NORTH AT 30
MILES AN HOUR. IT WILL REACH MEDIAPOLIS AROUND 545 PM AND THE NORTHERN
BORDER OF DES MOINES COUNTY BY 555 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS!
 
HELGESON


The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDes Moines43 min
Apr 19, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHenry48 min
Apr 19, 5:50 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNLouisa40 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.