Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Quad Cities, IA

August 3, 1997Scott County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 1997, 3:38 PM CDT for Scott County, Iowa. It was in force for 47 min. 5 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
Aug 3, 1997, 3:38 PM CDT (20:38 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1997, 4:25 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Scott County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 4 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:39 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
Aug 3, 4:05 PM CDTHail 1Bettendorf, IA
Aug 3, 4:10 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Davenport, IAWind blew a tree into an occupied car. The two occupants suffered minor injuries.
Aug 3, 4:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Bettendorf, IANumerous trees downed.
Aug 3, 4:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Davenport, IAWind damage to several wooden buildings at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. Winds struck on the final day of the fair, felling many large trees, flattening every booth and tent, and knocking over portable bathrooms.
Aug 3, 4:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 69Bettendorf, IAWinds were strong enough to snap cables which held a Bettendorf, Iowa casino riverboat to the Dock. The Casino boat and 1,076 patrons then took an unexpected cruse in the MIssissippi River for 90 minutes before they could be re-docked. One Casino employee wa

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
Aug 3, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 10 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1997-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-260 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1867 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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.

000 
TTAA00 KMLI 032038 RRA
SVRMLI
IAC163-032125-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
338 PM CDT SUN AUG 3 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SCOTT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 425 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LONG GROVE                         AROUND 340 PM CDT
  PROBSTEI                           AROUND 340 PM CDT
  GAMBRILL                           AROUND 345 PM CDT
  PARK VIEW                          AROUND 345 PM CDT
  ELDRIDGE                           AROUND 345 PM CDT
  DAVENPORT                          AROUND 400 PM CDT
  BETTENDORF                         AROUND 405 PM CDT

* AT 336 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY QUAD
  CITIES IA DOPPLER RADAR 16 MILES NORTH OF QUAD CITIES OR 4 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF LONG GROVE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF
55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND TORRENTIAL
DOWNPOURS. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.

HENDRICKS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJones63 min
Aug 3, 2:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton65 min
Aug 3, 2:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar50 min
Aug 3, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque62 min
Aug 3, 2:58 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNClinton47 min
Aug 3, 3:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton65 min
Aug 3, 3:51 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNScott49 min
Aug 3, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNScott48 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.