Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 59, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 21, 1997Lucas County, Marion County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 21, 1997, 3:06 AM CDT for Lucas County, Marion County, Iowa. It was in force for 29 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
Jun 21, 1997, 3:06 AM CDT (08:06 UTC)
Expired
Jun 21, 1997, 3:35 AM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lucas County, IA, Marion County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:10 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
Jun 21, 3:19 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 87Knoxville, IA
Jun 21, 3:20 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 75Pleasantville, 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
Jun 21, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 232 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 00:00Z on 1997-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4926 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 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
4926 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
216 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.

979 
WUUS1 KDSM 210804 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC117-125-210835-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
306 AM CDT SAT JUN 21 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  LUCAS COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
  MARION COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 335 AM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
    PLEASANTVILLE
    KNOXVILLE
    LUCAS
    CHARITON

* AT 304 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 TO 40 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES NEAR PLEASANTVILLE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR KNOXVILLE BY 315 AM AND CHARITON BY 320 AM CDT.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  LARGE TREES WERE DOWNED IN HARTFORD BY
THIS STORM.  WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH WERE REPORTED BY A NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE EMPLOYEE. DO NOT GO OUTDOORS.

FAB
 

&

What 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, Jun 20, 9:35 PM CDT, 5 hours 31 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-
092>097-211200-

CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
935 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 1997

HAZARD -- NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH...HAIL UP TO TWO
INCHES IN DIAMETER...HEAVY RAIN AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

TIMING AND AREA OF CONCERN -- FROM 1100 PM UNTIL 300 AM OVER THE WEST
PART OF THE FORECAST AREA AND SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 20...AFTER 100 AM
EAST OF INTERSTATE 35...SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 20.  THE THREAT WILL END
OVER WESTERN IOWA BY 300 AM AND OVER THE EAST BY 600 AM.

METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS -- A BOUNDARY LEFT FROM CONVECTION LAST NIGHT
EXTENDED FROM SOUTHERN NEBRASKA EAST THROUGH CENTRAL INTO EAST CENTRAL
IOWA.  IN ADDITION A COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF
THE STATE...SOUTHWEST INTO THE WEST CENTRAL COUNTIES NEAR ONAWA.  THE
AIRMASS OVER IOWA IS VERY UNSTABLE WITH LIFTED INDICES IN THE -10 TO
-15 DEGREE C RANGE.  IN ADDITION...CAPE VALUES WERE ON THE ORDER OF
5000 TO 6000 J/KG.  THE LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS DEW POINTS
TEMPERATURES OF AT LEAST 75 DEGREES OVER THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF THE
STATE.  A FEW LOCATION WERE AROUND 80.  IN ADDITION TO THE
MOISTURE...THE LOW LEVEL JET WAS INCREASING THIS EVENING.  SPEEDS WERE
IN THE 35 TO 40 MPH RANGE BY MID EVENING.  INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
FORMING IN TWO AREAS THIS EVENING.  ONE WAS OVER WESTERN
NEBRASKA...THE SECOND OVER SOUTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA.  THE
TWO AREAS ARE LIKELY TO COMBINE AND ADVANCE EAST LATER TONIGHT.  THE
GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE OVER THE WEST HALF OF
IOWA...WITH THE THREAT OVER THE EAST BEING MORE FROM HEAVY RAIN.
SPOTTY RAINFALL OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF A
SIOUX CITY TO OTTUMWA LINE.

PRECAUTIONS -- EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AS A WATCH IS
LIKELY WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.  SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS
EVENING.  STAY TUNED TO LOCAL TV...CABLE TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
THE LATEST SHORT-TERM FORECAST AND SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright31 min
Jun 20, 10:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster35 min
Jun 20, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin30 min
Jun 20, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin34 min
Jun 20, 11:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHardin32 min
Jun 20, 11:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler, Grundy31 min
Jun 21, 12:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy, Hardin31 min
Jun 21, 12:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Grundy44 min
Jun 21, 12:28 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXBlack Hawk32 min
Jun 21, 1:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon, Cass34 min
Jun 21, 2:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClarke, Warren31 min
Jun 21, 2:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk, Warren34 min
Jun 21, 3:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Monroe34 min
Jun 21, 3:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWapello32 min
Jun 21, 4:27 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun, Webster33 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.