Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Omaha, NE

July 13, 1997Mills County, Montgomery County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1997, 6:47 PM CDT for Mills County, Montgomery County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 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 13, 1997, 6:47 PM CDT (23:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1997, 7:20 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mills County, IA, Montgomery County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 13, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2893 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 184 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
2893 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1200 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 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 KOMA 132347 RRA
TOROMA
IAC129-137-140020-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
647 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EASTERN MILLS COUNTY - IN SOUTHWESTERN IOWA
  WESTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY - IN SOUTHWESTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 720 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED

  EMERSON                      NOW
  COBURG                       BY AROUND 655 PM CDT
  RED OAK                      BY AROUND 710 PM CDT

* AT 643 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR
  33 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN OMAHA OR 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF COBURG
  MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
 
PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.



FOBERT

What forecasters said that day

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 5:55 PM CDT, 52 minutes before
NEZ015-018-032-033-IAZ043-140300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
555 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997

THE PORTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA HAS
BEEN CANCELLED.  THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR CUMING...STANTON
...THURSTON...OR WAYNE COUNTIES IN NEBRASKA...OR MONONA COUNTY IOWA.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA AND
COULD EXTEND INTO THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF NEBRASKA.  SEVERE WEATHER
WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

POLLACK
Special weather statement, Jul 13, 5:56 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
NEZ015-018-032-033-IAZ043-140300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
555 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997

THE PORTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA HAS
BEEN CANCELLED.  THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR CUMING...STANTON
...THURSTON...OR WAYNE COUNTIES IN NEBRASKA...OR MONONA COUNTY IOWA.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA AND
COULD EXTEND INTO THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF NEBRASK.A.  SEVERE WEATHER
WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

POLLACK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 8:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMonona46 min
Jul 13, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMills45 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.