Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Omaha, NE
NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT for Shelby County, Iowa. It was in force for 30 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
- Jun 12, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 12, 1997, 5:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Omaha, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Shelby County, IA
The radar
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:41 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 5:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Kirkman, 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 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 97 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
- 170 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -123 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 870 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 59 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KOMA 122141 RRA TOROMA IAC165-122210- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 440 PM CDT THU JUN 12 1997 * TORNADO WARNING FOR SHELBY COUNTY - IN SOUTHWESTERN IOWA * UNTIL 510 PM CDT * THE FOLLOWING LOCATION IS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO IRWIN NOW KIRKMAN NOW DEFIANCE NOW * AT 436 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR 49 MILES NORTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN OMAHA OR 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF IRWIN MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 10 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. LJH
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
Local storm report, Jun 12, 10:55 AM CDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1100 AM CDT THU JUN 12 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0315 PM 3 W 1 S FAIRBURY NE WIND DAMAGE
06/11/97 JEFFERSON 2 OUTBUILDINGS SEVERELY
DAMAGED.
CHERMOKLocal storm report, Jun 12, 11:00 AM CDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1100 AM CDT THU JUN 12 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0315 PM 3 W 1 S FAIRBURY NE WIND DAMAGE
06/11/97 JEFFERSON 2 OUTBUILDINGS SEVERELY
DAMAGED.
CHERMOKSpecial weather statement, Jun 12, 11:29 AM CDT, 5 hours 11 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-131200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1130 AM CDT THU JUN 12 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. DISCUSSION... AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF NEBRASKA INTO WESTERN IOWA INTO TONIGHT. ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA AND A FEW SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY OF THIS SYSTEM. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE A THUNDERSTORM COULD fALSO DEVELOP...BUT MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA OR SOUTHWEST IOWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH AROUND MIDNIGHT. IF THUNDERSTORMS DO DEVELOP ACROSS THOSE AREAS THEY WOULD MOST LIKELY REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. CHERMOK
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 11:30 AM CDT, 5 hours 10 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-131200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1130 AM CDT THU JUN 12 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. DISCUSSION... AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF NEBRASKA INTO WESTERN IOWA INTO TONIGHT. ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA AND A FEW SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY OF THIS SYSTEM. THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE A THUNDERSTORM COULD ALSO DEVELOP...BUT MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA OR SOUTHWEST IOWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH AROUND MIDNIGHT. IF THUNDERSTORMS DO DEVELOP ACROSS THOSE AREAS THEY WOULD MOST LIKELY REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. CHERMOK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 10:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Pottawattamie | 63 min |
| Jun 12, 4:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Shelby | 48 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.