Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 23, 1997Plymouth County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1997, 5:17 AM CDT for Plymouth County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 min. 2 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
Jul 23, 1997, 5:17 AM CDT (10:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1997, 5:50 AM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Whole counties

County Plymouth County, IA

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:17 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
Jul 23, 5:30 AM CDTHail 0.75Remsen, IA
Jul 23, 5:45 AM CDTHail 1.75Remsen, 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 nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 158 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1353 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1353 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1400 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFSD 231018 RRA
SVRFSD
IAC149-231050-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
517 AM CDT WED JUL 23 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  EASTERN PLYMOUTH COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 550 AM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
  KINGSLEY                 AROUND 530 AM CDT

* AT 516 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  LARGE HAIL 24 MILES NORTHEAST OF SIOUX CITY  OR 10 MILES NORTH OF
  KINGSLEY MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL OCCUR WITH SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS.  STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 22, 9:10 PM CDT, 8 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 9:10 PM CDT, 8 hours 7 minutes before
SOUTH DAKOTA/NORTHWEST IOWA/SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
910 PM CDT TUE JUL 22 1997

HAVE DECEIDED TO DROP POPS FOR SUX AREA AS WELL...TRW REALLY DIEING OFF
QUICKLY.

.FSD...NONE
HOLMES

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.