Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 44, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 1997, 3:51 PM CDT for Scott County, Iowa; Rock Island County, Illinois. It was in force for 49 min. 10 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, 3:51 PM CDT (20:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 3, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Scott County, IA, Rock Island County, IL
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 7 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:55 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 3:58 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Rock Is, IL | 60 mph wind gust. |
| Aug 3, 4:05 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Bettendorf, IA | |
| Aug 3, 4:06 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 69 | (Mli) Quad City Arpt, IL | Measured 79 mph gust. |
| Aug 3, 4:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Davenport, IA | Wind blew a tree into an occupied car. The two occupants suffered minor injuries. |
| Aug 3, 4:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Rock Is, IL | Trees and power lines down. |
| Aug 3, 4:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Bettendorf, IA | Numerous trees downed. |
| Aug 3, 4:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Davenport, IA | Wind 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, 4:18 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 79 | Illinois City, IL | 91 mph wind gust reported. Roof at the high school was damaged causing water damage to the gymnasium floor. Cost for the new roof and floor $250,000. |
| Aug 3, 4:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 69 | Bettendorf, IA | Winds 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 |
| Aug 3, 4:50 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Parkview, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 11 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
112 WFUS1 KMLI 032052 RRA TORMLI IAC163-ILC161-032140- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 351 PM CDT SUN AUG 3 1997 * TORNADO WARNING FOR SCOTT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA ROCK ISLAND COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS * UNTIL 440 PM CDT * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BETTENDORF AROUND 350 PM CDT ARGO AROUND 350 PM CDT MILAN AROUND 350 PM CDT MOLINE AROUND 350 PM CDT RIVERDALE AROUND 355 PM CDT * AT 351 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY QUAD CITIES IA DOPPLER RADAR IN THE VICINITY OF QUAD CITIES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. 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. PIERCE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Jones | 63 min |
| Aug 3, 2:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Clinton | 65 min |
| Aug 3, 2:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Cedar | 50 min |
| Aug 3, 2:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Dubuque | 62 min |
| Aug 3, 2:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Clinton | 47 min |
| Aug 3, 3:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Benton | 65 min |
| Aug 3, 3:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Scott | 47 min |
| Aug 3, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Scott | 48 min |
| Aug 3, 3:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Rock Island | 63 min |
| Aug 3, 4:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henry | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1997Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 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.