Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 18, 1997Cedar County, Jones County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT for Cedar County, Jones County, Iowa. It was in force for 50 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
May 18, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1997, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cedar County, IA, Jones County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:33 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
May 18, 4:42 PM CDTTornado F1Mechanicsville, IATornado passed across open country along highway 30.
May 18, 5:05 PM CDTHail 1.75Oxford Jct, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 18, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 1997-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1997-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 266 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1986 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
293 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.

794 
WFUS1 KMLI 182131 RRA
TORMLI
IAC031-105-182220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
430 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN CEDAR COUNTY - IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA
  JONES COUNTY - IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 520 PM CDT
 
* THIS TORNADO WILL REACH NEAR
  MARTELLE                           AROUND 435 PM CDT
  MARTELLE LERCHS AIRPORT            AROUND 435 PM CDT
  FAIRVIEW                           AROUND 435 PM CDT
  ANAMOSA                            AROUND 440 PM CDT
  MECHANICSVILLE                     AROUND 445 PM CDT

* AT 429 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY QUAD CITIES
IA DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 10 MILES EAST OF CEDAR RAPIDS
OR 4 MILES WEST OF MARTELLE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY. GO TO A SHELTER BELOW
GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES...TAKE
COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

HENDRICKS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton50 min
May 18, 3:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLinn50 min
May 18, 3:55 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNBenton, Linn50 min
May 18, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware51 min
May 18, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNBenton50 min
May 18, 4:46 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNLinn49 min
May 18, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque49 min
May 18, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton, Jackson47 min
May 18, 5:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNBenton, Linn3 hr
May 18, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Jones47 min
May 18, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNIowa, Johnson63 min
May 18, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLinn49 min
May 18, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque49 min
May 18, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton46 min
May 18, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware47 min
May 18, 6:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque50 min
May 18, 6:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNDubuque3 hr
May 18, 6:31 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNJohnson49 min
May 18, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNCedar, Muscatine50 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.