Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 59, NWS Des Moines, IA
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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 3:19 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 87 | Knoxville, IA | |
| Jun 21, 3:20 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 75 | Pleasantville, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 1:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 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.
- 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
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 10:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wright | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 10:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Webster | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 10:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Franklin | 30 min |
| Jun 20, 11:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Franklin | 34 min |
| Jun 20, 11:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Hardin | 32 min |
| Jun 20, 11:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Butler, Grundy | 31 min |
| Jun 21, 12:04 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Grundy, Hardin | 31 min |
| Jun 21, 12:21 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Black Hawk, Grundy | 44 min |
| Jun 21, 12:28 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Black Hawk | 32 min |
| Jun 21, 1:41 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Audubon, Cass | 34 min |
| Jun 21, 2:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Clarke, Warren | 31 min |
| Jun 21, 2:51 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk, Warren | 34 min |
| Jun 21, 3:21 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Mahaska, Monroe | 34 min |
| Jun 21, 3:53 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wapello | 32 min |
| Jun 21, 4:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Calhoun, Webster | 33 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.