Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 23, 1998Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1998, 11:39 AM CDT for Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 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
May 23, 1998, 11:39 AM CDT (16:39 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1998, 12:10 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Cerro Gordo County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:43 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
May 23, 11:45 AM CDTHail 1Mason City, IA
May 23, 11:47 AM CDTHail 0.75Mason City, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 198 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1111 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 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 231639 RRA
SVRDSM
IAC033-231710-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1139 AM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN CERRO GORDO COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1210 PM CDT

* AT 1137 AM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5
  MILES WEST OF MASON CITY MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THIS STORM CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
   MASON CITY         NOW
   PLYMOUTH           BY 1144 AM CDT
   PORTLAND           BY 1144 AM CDT
   ROCK FALLS         BY 1148 AM CDT

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!  HAIL WAS OCCURRING AT CLEAR
LAKE.

KULA/MYERS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt, Webster31 min
May 23, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer35 min
May 23, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon32 min
May 23, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford31 min
May 23, 6:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGreene, Webster33 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1998Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.