Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Quad Cities, IA

April 30, 1997Cedar County, Clinton County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1997, 3:16 PM CDT for Cedar County, Clinton County, Iowa. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report 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: Apr 30, 1997, 3:16 PM CDT (20:16 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 1997, 3:50 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cedar County, IA, Clinton County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:19 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 30, 3:20 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Durant, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 30, 12:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 36 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1366 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 180 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 302017 RRA
TORMLI
IAC031-045-302050-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
316 PM CDT WED APR 30 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CEDAR COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL IOWA
  CLINTON COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 350 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED

  LOWDEN
  TORONTO
  WHEATLAND

* AT 315 PM CDT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO 23 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF THE QUAD CITIES MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH."

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR TORONTO AND WHEATLAND AT 325 PM CDT.

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

WOLF

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 1:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Cedar	34 min
Apr 30, 2:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Clinton, Jackson, Jones	49 min
Apr 30, 3:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Scott	50 min
Apr 30, 3:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Muscatine	47 min
Apr 30, 3:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Clinton	50 min
Apr 30, 4:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Jackson	47 min
Apr 30, 4:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Clinton	34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.