Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 60, NWS Omaha, NE

July 23, 1996Harrison County, Pottawattamie County, Shelby County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 23, 1996, 3:33 PM CDT for Harrison County, Pottawattamie County, Shelby County, Iowa. It was in force for 27 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 23, 1996, 3:33 PM CDT (20:33 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1996, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Harrison County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Shelby County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:36 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 73 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 1996-07-23Temperature 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1996-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 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
2089 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
132 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 KOMA 232034
TOROMA
IAC085-155-165-232100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
333 PM CDT TUE JUL 23 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA
 
   ...EASTERN HARRISON COUNTY...EASTERN POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY
   ...SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 5 MILES EAST OF LOGAN IOWA...27
MILES NORTHEAST OF OMAHA. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 35
MPH.
 
TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...PERSIA...AVOCA...AND MINDEN IOWA.
 
 
PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF
AVAILA8BLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.
 
 
BYRD
&

What 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, Jul 23, 11:31 AM CDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-241200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1130 AM CDT TUE JUL 23 1996

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA...

SPOTTER ACTION...
ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTER GROUPS IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST
IOWA IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING.

DISCUSSION...
AN UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE MOVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE PLAINS WILL BRING
THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
HOWEVER WITH THE AIR MASS MORE STABLE THAN MONDAY STORMS ARE NOT
EXPECTED TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.

GW

The office that day

Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 3:53 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXPottawattamie37 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.