Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 19, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT for Kossuth County, Iowa. It was in force for 3 hr. 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 19, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT (02:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1997, 12:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Kossuth County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 169 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:33 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
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 189 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
- 726 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -170 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 621 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 176 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDSM 200230
FFWDSM
IAC109-200530-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
930 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 1997
* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
CENTRAL AND NORTHERN KOSSUTH COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT
* SOME STREAMS AFFECTED
DES MOINES RIVER
BUFFALO CREEK
BLACK CAT CREEK
LINDSEY CREEK
* CAUSE AND EFFECT
PERSISTENT THUNDERSTORMS CROSSING NORTHERN AND CENTRAL KOSSUTH
COUNTY WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN PER HOUR.
* FORECAST CONDITIONS
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL THROUGH MIDNIGHT OF 2 TO 4 INCHES IS LIKELY.
LEAVE FLOOD PRONE OR LOW LYING AREAS IMMEDIATELY. NEVER DRIVE INTO
STANDING WATER.
KUBINAWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 19, 5:08 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-200410- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 508 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 1997 HAZARD--WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OF FROM 2 TO 3 INCHES IN AN HOURS TIME ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR HAIL. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT EXPECTED LATER TONIGHT. AREA OF CONCERN--FAR EASTERN PORTION OF THE WARNING AREA...ALONG AND EAST OF AN OTTUMWA TO WATERLOO LINE. LATE TONIGHT THE THREAT WILL SHIFT INTO THE NORTHERN QUARTER OF THE STATE...NORTH OF HIGHWAY 20. TIMING DETAILS--THROUGH 700 PM OVER THE FAR EASTERN WARNING AREA WITH ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS PUSHING INTO NORTHERN IOWA AFTER MIDNIGHT. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS--A RATHER DISTINCT FRONTAL BOUNDARY WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH CENTRAL THROUGH EASTERN IOWA THIS EVENING. TEMPERATURES TO THE EAST OF THE BOUNDARY WERE IN THE MID 60S WHILE READINGS WEST OF THE FRONT WERE IN THE 90S. THIS TEMPERATURE DISCONTINUITY IS HELPING FUEL WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN WARNING AREA WITH THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS BEING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND LARGE HAIL. LATER THIS EVENING AS THE THERMAL BOUNDARY WEAKENS...THE THUNDERSTORM THREAT WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH. LATER TONIGHT...A NEW THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE DAKOTAS AND MINNESOTA WITH MOVEMENT INTO EXTREME NORTHERN IOWA AFTER MIDNIGHT. SOUTHERLY WINDS AT THE LOW LEVELS ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE AFTER DARK TRANSPORTING COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO THE STATE. WITH THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY FORECAST TO BE ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN IOWA OVERNIGHT...THE PRIMARY AREA OF CONCERN WOULD BE NORTH OF HIGHWAY 20. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR INDICATING A REAL THREAT FOR SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IN AREAS THAT DO SEE THE THUNDERSTORMS LATER TONIGHT. PRECAUTIONS--SPOTTER ACTIVATION APPEARS UNLIKELY THIS EVENING. KEEP ABREAST OF LATER SHORT TERM FORECASTS AND CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOKS THIS EVENING. SMITH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 31 min |
| Jul 20, 4:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Monroe | 35 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997
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.