Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 15, 1997Hancock County, Wright County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 15, 1997, 8:59 PM CDT for Hancock County, Wright County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 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 15, 1997, 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
Expired
Jun 15, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hancock County, IA, Wright County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:01 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 15, 9:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Kanawha, IA
Jun 15, 9:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Belmond, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 216 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1997-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 707 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1997-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -38 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
707 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1460 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

851 
WFUS1 KDSM 160158 RRA
TORDSM
IAC081-197-160230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
859 PM CDT SUN JUN 15 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN HANCOCK COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  NORTHERN WRIGHT COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
    HWY 111
    TWIN LAKES
    BELMOND
    HWY 69

* AT 855 PM CDT A SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BRITT OR 30 MILES OF MASON CITY MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25
MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR BELMOND BY 910 PM CDT.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN THE
LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

SCHAFER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 15, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin33 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.