Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1997, 8:26 PM CDT for Warren County, Iowa. It was in force for 14 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
- Aug 16, 1997, 8:26 PM CDT (01:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1997, 8:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 14 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Warren County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 7:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 235 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
- 1159 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -284 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1161 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 96 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 245 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 18.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
890
WFUS1 KDSM 170125
TORDSM
IAC181-170140-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
826 PM CDT SAT AUG 16 1997
* TORNADO WARNING FOR
WARREN COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA
* UNTIL 840 PM CDT
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
INDIANOLA
NORWALK
ACKWORTH
* AT 825 PM CDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTH OF DES
MOINES MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.
* THE STORM WILL BE ONE STORM JUST OF INDIANOLA BY 835 PM CDT.
THE OTHER STORM WILL REMAIN AROUND THE NORWALK VICINITY.
IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN THE
LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.
FORSTER/KUBINAWhat forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Aug 16, 3:32 PM CDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-171200- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 332 PM CDT SAT AUG 16 1997 HAZARD--SCATTERED EVENING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WIND THE PRIMARY CONCERN. AREA OF CONCERN AND TIMING--SOUTH OF AN ATLANTIC-DUBUQUE LINE AFTER 6 OR 7 PM. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS--MOST OF SOUTHERN IOWA REMAINS QUITE UNSTABLE WITH LIFTED INDICES AROUND -10 DEGREES AND SATELLITE MEASURED CAPES OF 3000-4000 J/KG. A DEWPOINT FRONT LYING ALONG A DUBUQUE-DES MOINES- ATLANTIC LINE MAY ACT AS A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPMENT THIS EVENING. THE BEST LOW LEVELING FORCING REMAINS IN NORTHEAST KANSAS HOWEVER WHERE STRONGER LOW LEVEL WINDS ARE IMPINGING THE DEWPOINT FRONT. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS NEARING THIS AREA FROM WESTERN KANSAS NOW...WHICH MAY INDUCE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE NEAR 2 INCHES SOUTH OF THE FRONT...SO RAINFALL WILL BE INTENSE IN LOCALIZED AREAS. THE THREAT OF STRONG DAMAGING WINDS HAS LESSENED A BIT FROM EARLIER TODAY BUT WINDS TO 70 MPH COULD OCCUR. BETWEEN SUNSET AND MIDNIGHT THE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE REPEAT HEAVY RAINS OVER THE SAME AREA. RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD EASILY EXCEED 3-4 INCHES IN SMALL AREAS BETWEEN 10 PM AND 3 AM. PRECAUTIONS--PEOPLE WITH OUTDOOR PLANS SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF THE WEATHER THIS EVENING...AND BE PREPARED TO CHANGE PLANS. SPOTTER ACTIVATION COULD BE NEEDED SOUTH OF AN ATLANTIC-DUBUQUE LINE. MYERS
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 3:33 PM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-171200- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 332 PM CDT SAT AUG 16 1997 HAZARD--SCATTERED EVENING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WIND THE PRIMARY CONCERN. AREA OF CONCERN AND TIMING--SOUTH OF AN ATLANTIC-DUBUQUE LINE AFTER 6 OR 7 PM. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS--MOST OF SOUTHERN IOWA REMAINS QUITE UNSTABLE WITH LIFTED INDICES AROUND -10 DEGREES AND SATELLITE MEASURED CAPES OF 3000-4000 J/KG. A DEWPOINT FRONT LYING ALONG A DUBUQUE-DES MOINES- ATLANTIC LINE MAY ACT AS A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPMENT THIS EVENING. THE BEST LOW LEVELING FORCING REMAINS IN NORTHEAST KANSAS HOWEVER WHERE STRONGER LOW LEVEL WINDS ARE IMPINGING THE DEWPOINT FRONT. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS NEARING THIS AREA FROM WESTERN KANSAS NOW...WHICH MAY INDUCE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ARE NEAR 2 INCHES SOUTH OF THE FRONT...SO RAINFALL WILL BE INTENSE IN LOCALIZED AREAS. THE THREAT OF STRONG DAMAGING WINDS HAS LESSENED A BIT FROM EARLIER TODAY BUT WINDS TO 70 MPH COULD OCCUR. BETWEEN SUNSET AND MIDNIGHT THE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE REPEAT HEAVY RAINS OVER THE SAME AREA. RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD EASILY EXCEED 3-4 INCHES IN SMALL AREAS BETWEEN 10 PM AND 3 AM. PRECAUTIONS--PEOPLE WITH OUTDOOR PLANS SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF THE WEATHER THIS EVENING...AND BE PREPARED TO CHANGE PLANS. SPOTTER ACTIVATION COULD >BE NEEDED SOUTH OF AN ATLANTIC-DUBUQUE LINE. MYERS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 7:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Warren | 34 min |
| Aug 16, 8:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Monroe | 36 min |
| Aug 16, 8:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Marion | 34 min |
| Aug 16, 8:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 32 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.