Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 24, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT for Sac County, Iowa. It was in force for 43 min. 1 report 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 24, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 24, 1997, 6:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sac County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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 24, 6:00 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Ulmer, 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 nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 158 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
- 469 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 521 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 181 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 190 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDSM 242237 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC161-242320-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
537 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 1997
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
SOUTHERN SAC COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL IOWA
* UNTIL 620 PM CDT
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
WALL LAKE
CARNARVON
ULMER
AUBURN
* AT 534 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTH OF
ODEBOLT OR 60 MILES WEST OF FORT DODGE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR WALL LAKE AT 550 PM.
HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER IS LIKELY IN THIS STORM. PEOPLE ON
BLACK HAWK LAKE SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. DO
NOT GO OUTDOORS.
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, Jun 24, 3:18 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-250500- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 320 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 1997 HAZARD -- ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL. AREA OF CONCERN -- ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WITH THE GREATEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN OVER THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER. TIMING DETAILS -- BETWEEN 600 PM AND MIDNIGHT. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS -- A COLD FRONT LOCATED FROM MINNESOTA ACROSS SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA AND INTO NEBRASKA WILL GRADUALLY MOVE THROUGH IOWA THIS EVENING. MOISTURE CONVERGENCE OVER SOUTHWEST IOWA ALONG WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF UP TO TWO INCHES WILL FOCUS THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION OVER THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE. CAPE VALUES STATEWIDE RANGE FROM 2000 TO 2500 J/KG. AN INFLUX OF COLD AIR AT 18000 FEET WILL LEAD TO FURTHER DESTABILIZATION THIS EVENING. SUNSHINE LATE IN THE AFTERNOON WILL ALSO ENHANCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THAT THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER WESTERN IOWA AFTER 600 PM AND THEN SPREAD EAST OVER THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL IOWA. DUE TO THE COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE...RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH PER HOUR ARE LIKELY. PRECAUTIONS -- SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAYBE REQUIRED THIS EVENING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT OF THE LATEST SHORT-TERM FORECAST FOR THEIR AREA. SCHAFER
Special weather statement, Jun 24, 3:20 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-250500- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 320 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 1997 HAZARD -- ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL. AREA OF CONCERN -- ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WITH THE GREATEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN OVER THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER. TIMING DETAILS -- BETWEEN 600 PM AND MIDNIGHT. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS -- A COLD FRONT LOCATED FROM MINNESOTA ACROSS SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA AND INTO NEBRASKA WILL GRADUALLY MOVE THROUGH IOWA THIS EVENING. MOISTURE CONVERGENCE OVER SOUTHWEST IOWA ALONG WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF UP TO TWO INCHES WILL FOCUS THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION OVER THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE. CAPE VALUES STATEWIDE RANGE FROM 2000 TO 2500 J/KG. AN INFLUX OF COLD AIR AT 18000 FEET WILL LEAD TO FURTHER DESTABILIZATION THIS EVENING. SUNSHINE LATE IN THE AFTERNOON WILL ALSO ENHANCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THAT THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER WESTERN IOWA AFTER 600 PM AND THEN SPREAD EAST OVER THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL IOWA. DUE TO THE COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE AVAILABLE...RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF ONE INCH PER HOUR ARE LIKELY. PRECAUTIONS -- SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAYBE REQUIRED THIS EVENING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT OF THE LATEST SHORT-TERM FORECAST FOR THEIR AREA. SCHAFER
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.