Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 114, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 8, 1997, 9:50 PM CDT for Adair County, Cass County, Iowa. It was in force for 35 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
- Oct 8, 1997, 9:50 PM CDT (02:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 8, 1997, 10:25 PM CDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Adair County, IA, Cass County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:52 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 6:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 139 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
- 428 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -44 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 902 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 73 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 286 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 298 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDSM 090251 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC001-029-090325-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
950 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
ADAIR COUNTY - SOUTHWESTERN IOWA
SOUTHEASTERN CASS COUNTY - SOUTHWESTERN IOWA
* UNTIL 1025 PM CDT
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
MASSENA
BRIDGEWATER
FONTANELLE
GREENFIELD
* AT 950 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR MASSENA OR
80 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
* THE STORM WILL BE OPEN COUNTRY OF WESTERN ADAIR BY 1000 PM.
DAMAGING WINDS OF 60 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. A TORNADO WATCH IS
ALSO IN EFFECT. REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTO|RMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
KULAWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Oct 8, 5:10 PM CDT, 4 hours 40 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-090200- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 510 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997 HAZARD--A SQUALL LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...SEVERAL OF WHICH COULD BE SEVERE WITH WIND GUSTS WELL IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. AREA OF CONCERN--THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. TIMING DETAILS--SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST THROUGH EASTERN IOWA EARLY THIS EVENING. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN IOWA BY 600 PM THEN INTO EASTERN IOWA AFTER 800 PM. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS--ONE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM NORTHEAST KANSAS INTO SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND IT WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. ANOTHER LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING THROUGH NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 60 AND 75 MPH WITH THIS LINE. THE STRONG WINDS HAVE ALSO PICKED UP A LOT OF DUST WHICH IS EVIDENT IN VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY...SO BLOWING DUST WILL ARRIVE WITH THESE STORMS AND REDUCE VISIBILITIES. SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES HAVE BEEN ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF NEBRASKA... KANSAS AND MISSOURI FOR THIS EVENING. THE COLD FRONT HAS BEEN SLOW TO MOVE TODAY...BUT IT IS EXPECTED TO ACCELERATE EASTWARD THIS EVENING. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO TAP INTO THE 60 TO 80 MPH JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE AS THEY MARCH EAST INTO IOWA TONIGHT. STRONG WINDS CONTINUE TO BE THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS...HOWEVER THERE CONTINUES TO BE JUST ENOUGH SHEAR TO ALLOW A WEAK TORNADO TO DEVELOP. PRECAUTIONS--SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY TONIGHT. CONTINUE TO MONITOR CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOKS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION. TAKE TIME NOW TO SECURE OUTDOOR OBJECTS THAT MAY BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE WIND. STARK
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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.