Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 5, 1997Black Hawk County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1997, 3:04 PM CST for Black Hawk County, Iowa. It was in force for 16 min. 2 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 5, 1997, 3:04 PM CST (21:04 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1997, 3:20 PM CST
In force
16 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Black Hawk County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:05 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 5, 3:08 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 57Waterloo, IA
Apr 5, 3:12 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 52Waterloo, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 5, 2:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 177 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 1997-04-05Temperature 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 1997-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 94 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
515 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
99 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 052104 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC013-052120-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
304 PM CST SAT APR 5 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  BLACK HAWK COUNTY - NORTHEASTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 320 PM CST
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
    WATERLOO
    CEDAR FALLS

* AT 302 PM THE PUBLIC REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTH OF
  WATERLOO MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE OVER WATERLOO BY 310 PM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.

THE PUBLIC REPORTED 60 MPH WINDS ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF BLACK HAWK
COUNTY AT 300 PM.

KUBINA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 3:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer15 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1997Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.