Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Quad Cities, IA

July 21, 1997Cedar County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 1997, 3:53 PM CDT for Cedar County, Iowa. It was in force for 47 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
Jul 21, 1997, 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Cedar County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:53 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 nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 55 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 1997-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 101 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 155 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
821 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLI 212055 RRA
TORMLI
IAC031-212140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
353 PM CDT MON JUL 21 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CEDAR COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 440 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  BENNETT                            AROUND 350 PM CDT
  SUNBURY                            AROUND 355 PM CDT
  DURANT                             AROUND 355 PM CDT

* AT 349 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC 14
  MILES NORTH OF MUSCATINE OR 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SUNBURY MOVING
  EAST AT 15 MPH.

STORMS HAD DEVELOPED RAPIDLY OVER THE PAST 30 MINUTES ALONG A
FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS SOUTHERN CEDAR COUNTY.  A TORNADO WAS
REPORTED ON THE GROUND NEAR DURANT MOVING EAST.

 IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS
IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY
FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET *ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID
WINDOWS.

TEH/TPH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 10:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJackson62 min
Jul 20, 10:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton65 min
Jul 21, 3:56 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMuscatine, Scott49 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.