Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1998, 7:31 PM CDT for Wapello County, Iowa. It was in force for 34 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
- May 23, 1998, 7:31 PM CDT (00:31 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 1998, 8:05 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wapello County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:33 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 172 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1302 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 165 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
291 WUUS1 KDSM 240030 RRA SVRDSM IAC179-240105- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 731 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN AND WESTERN WAPELLO COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN IOWA * UNTIL 805 PM CDT * AT 728 PM CDT... STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OTTUMWA MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. * THIS STORM CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR... OTTUMWA BY 741 PM CDT THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL. ONE INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED IN BLAKESBURG WITH THIS STORM. ONE TO TWO INCH HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS FAB
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.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 23, 4:36 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
436 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0358 PM SHELL ROCK IA 3 INCH HAIL
05/23/98 BUTLER
0402 PM PARKERSBURG IA 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/23/98 BUTLER REPORTED BY BUTLER COUNTY
SHERIFFLocal storm report, May 23, 4:36 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
436 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0358 PM SHELL ROCK IA 3 INCH HAIL
05/23/98 BUTLER
0402 PM PARKERSBURG IA 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/23/98 BUTLER REPORTED BY BUTLER COUNTY
SHERIFFSpecial weather statement, May 23, 5:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097-241100- CENTRAL IOWA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 549 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998 HAZARD--A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL. WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED ALTHOUGH SOME STORMS COULD PRODUCE HAIL TO ONE INCH. AREA OF CONCERN--ALL OF CENTRAL IOWA. TIMING DETAILS--FROM 6 PM TIL MIDNIGHT AND AGAIN TOWARDS MORNING. METEOROLOGICAL COMMENTS--THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTHERN IOWA ALONG OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES AND AHEAD OF A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER NEBRASKA AND THE DAKOTAS. THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL. STORMS ARE ALSO BREAKING OUT ALONG A WARM FRONT OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI AND THIS MAY SAVE IOWA FROM A WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER EVENT OVER IOWA. HOWEVER...A FEW STORMS COULD PRODUCE HAIL TO ONE INCH. THE BIGGER THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE HEAVY RAIN LEADING TO FLASH FLOODING OF ALREADY HIGH RIVERS. AFTER MIDNIGHT...THE WARM FRONT OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI WILL BUCKLE AND 850 MB FLOW WILL INCREASE. THE THETA-E RIDGE PUSHES INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN IOWA AND THIS WILL PRIME THE ENVIRONMENT FOR A POSSIBLE MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE COMPLEX OF STORMS. IF THIS DOES OCCUR IT WILL AFFECT MAINLY THE SOUTHERN TWO TIERS OF COUNTIES OVER IOWA FROM ABOUT CHARITON IOWA EASTWARD. PRECAUTIONS -SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL IOWA THIS EVENING AND OVER FAR SOUTHERN IOWA AFTER 3 AM. FAB
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 7:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Hamilton | 32 min |
| May 23, 7:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Webster | 34 min |
| May 23, 8:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Appanoose, Monroe | 31 min |
| May 23, 8:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Davis | 47 min |
| May 23, 8:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Davis | 46 min |
| May 23, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wapello | 33 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.