Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 32, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 20, 1998Hamilton County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 20, 1998, 6:56 PM CDT for Hamilton County, Iowa. It was in force for 2 hr. 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 20, 1998, 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1998, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Hamilton County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:57 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 nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 250 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 1998-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1044 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 1998-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 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
1044 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-153 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 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 KDSM 202356
FFWDSM
IAC079-210200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
656 PM CDT THU AUG 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN HAMILTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN NEAR WEBSTER CITY... MOVING EAST
  AT ONLY 5 MPH.

* UP TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED. SERIOUS FLASH FLOODING HAS
  BEGUN IN WEBSTER CITY.

SOME STREAMS AFFECTED INCLUDE...
  WHITE FOX CREEK
  BUCK CREEK
  HEADWATERS OF THE SOUTH SKUNK RIVER
  HEADWATERS OF BOONE RIVER

DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD!

PYTLAK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Aug 20, 3:47 PM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
IAZ044>046-057-058-070-071-081-082-092-093-210000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
347 PM CDT THU AUG 20 1998

ADVISORY INFORMATION--A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL EARLY
EVENING FOR SOUTHWEST IOWA.

RECENT REPORTS--HEAT INDICES WERE IN THE 105 TO 115 DEGREE RANGE
THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST IOWA. EVEN IN CENTRAL IOWA...HEAT INDICES HAVE
CLIMBED TO AROUND 105 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WERE
TOPPING OUT IN THE MID 90S BUT DEWPOINTS WERE NEAR 80 DEGREES. SLOW
COOLING IS NOT EXPECTED TO OCCUR UNTIL AFTER 700 PM.

PRECAUTIONS--DELAY ANY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES UNTIL LATER THIS EVENING.
IF YOU MUST BE OUTSIDE AIR CONDITIONING...TAKE APPROPRIATE
PRECAUTIONS.

PYTLAK

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.