Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Quad Cities, IA

June 21, 1997Buchanan County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 21, 1997, 12:51 AM CDT for Buchanan County, Iowa. It was in force for 64 min. 4 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 21, 1997, 12:51 AM CDT (05:51 UTC)
Expired
Jun 21, 1997, 1:55 AM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Buchanan County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:55 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 21, 1:10 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Fairbank, IAMan struck by falling tree when he went outside to check on his dog during the storm. Numerous trees and power lines were also downed across Fairbank.
Jun 21, 1:12 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Hazleton, IAThree foot diameter trees reported snapped at base.
Jun 21, 1:12 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Fairbank, IAConsiderable damage was done to area football grandstands, a baseball batting cage, and a pressbox. Damage also reported to several roofs and cars.
Jun 21, 1:15 AM CDTHail 2Lamont, 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
Jun 20, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 00:00Z on 1997-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4926 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 1997-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 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
4926 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
216 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.

227 
WFUS1 KMLI 210554 RRA
TORMLI
IAC019-210655-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1251 AM CDT SAT JUN 21 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  BUCHANAN COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 155 AM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LAMONT                             AROUND 100 AM CDT
  MONTI                              AROUND 105 AM CDT

* AT 1252 AM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY QUAD CITIES
  IA DOPPLER RADAR 28 MILES EAST OF WATERLOO OR 10 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF LAMONT MOVING EAST AT 15 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.

TEH/PAB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 11:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque63 min
Jun 21, 1:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton61 min
Jun 21, 1:20 AM CDTTornado WarningDVNDelaware, Linn60 min
Jun 21, 1:46 AM CDTTornado WarningDVNJones64 min
Jun 21, 1:52 AM CDTTornado WarningDVNDubuque63 min
Jun 21, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNIowa, Johnson65 min
Jun 21, 2:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJackson60 min
Jun 21, 3:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNKeokuk62 min
Jun 21, 4:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNWashington59 min
Jun 21, 4:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJefferson65 min
Jun 21, 4:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHenry, Louisa61 min
Jun 21, 4:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNMuscatine64 min
Jun 21, 4:53 AM CDTTornado WarningDVNJones47 min
Jun 21, 4:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar45 min
Jun 21, 4:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDes Moines49 min
Jun 21, 5:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton, Scott58 min
Jun 21, 5:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJackson48 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.