Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 16, 1997Adair County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1997, 6:02 PM CDT for Adair County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 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
May 16, 1997, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1997, 6:35 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Adair County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:05 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
May 16, 6:16 PM CDTHail 0.75Greenfield, IA
May 16, 6:25 PM CDTHail 1Greenfield, 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
May 16, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 159 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 1997-05-16Temperature 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 1997-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 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
2709 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
271 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.

321 
WUUS1 KDSM 162259 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC001-162335-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
602 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  ADAIR COUNTY - SOUTHWESTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 635 PM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
    FONTANELLE
    GREENFIELD
    ORIENT

* AT AT 600 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
  BRIDGEWATER OR 60 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  40 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR GREENFIELD BY 620 PM .

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.

STARK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Polk33 min
May 16, 5:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas32 min
May 16, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXUnion48 min
May 16, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXRinggold, Taylor47 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.