Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 53, NWS Quad Cities, IA

August 16, 1997Cedar County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1997, 8:21 PM CDT for Cedar County, Iowa. It was in force for 59 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
Aug 16, 1997, 8:21 PM CDT (01:21 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1997, 9:20 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Cedar County, IA

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 16, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6428 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 1997-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
6428 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
765 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
10.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLI 170121 RRA
TORMLI
IAC031-170220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
821 PM CDT SAT AUG 16 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CEDAR COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 920 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LIME CITY                          AROUND 830 PM CDT
  DURANT                             AROUND 900 PM CDT

* AT 817 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY QUAD CITIES
  IA DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 17 MILES NORTH OF MUSCATINE
  OR 4 MILES WEST OF LIME CITY MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.  A FUNNEL
  CLOUD WAS REPORTED AT SPICER AVENUE SOUTH OF I-80 AND 1 MILE EAST
  OF ROUTE 38 NEAR WILTON.
 
PERSONS TRAVELING ALONG I-80 SHOULD PULL OVER AND SEEK SHELTER IN A
DITCH OR UNDER A OVERPASS!

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/BLH
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 7:43 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNScott32 min
Aug 16, 8:35 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMuscatine65 min
Aug 16, 9:28 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNJohnson, Washington47 min
Aug 16, 9:33 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMuscatine62 min
Aug 16, 10:31 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNMuscatine5 hr
Aug 17, 12:27 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNCedar, Johnson8 hr
Aug 17, 1:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNKeokuk, Washington7 hr

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.