Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 15, 1998Wapello County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1998, 4:13 PM CDT for Wapello County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 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
May 15, 1998, 4:13 PM CDT (21:13 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1998, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Wapello County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 15, 4:15 PM CDTTornado F0Chillicothe, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 15, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 333 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 1998-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1194 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 1998-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -76 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1194 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-370 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1627 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 152113 RRA
TORDSM
IAC179-152145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
413 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WAPELLO COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN IOWA

* UNTIL 445 PM CDT

* AT 410 PM CDT... THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST
  OF OTTUMWA NORTH NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  CHILLICOTHE    BY 420 PMB

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!
THIS REPLACES THE EARLIER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR WAPELLO
COUNTY.

GF/BSS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 9:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor32 min
May 15, 9:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass37 min
May 15, 9:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon34 min
May 15, 9:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford36 min
May 15, 10:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll35 min
May 15, 10:11 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXCrawford34 min
May 15, 10:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac34 min
May 15, 10:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun36 min
May 15, 12:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll34 min
May 15, 1:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Sac31 min
May 15, 1:09 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun36 min
May 15, 1:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt34 min
May 15, 1:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth34 min
May 15, 1:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXKossuth32 min
May 15, 1:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas33 min
May 15, 1:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass17 min
May 15, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon34 min
May 15, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth35 min
May 15, 2:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXKossuth22 min
May 15, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Greene32 min
May 15, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster33 min
May 15, 3:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton31 min
May 15, 3:37 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWright33 min
May 15, 3:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory33 min
May 15, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWapello34 min
May 15, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac36 min
May 15, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin, Hardin46 min
May 15, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo, Hancock46 min
May 15, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis36 min
May 15, 4:24 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCalhoun, Pocahontas36 min
May 15, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt35 min
May 15, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTama35 min
May 15, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth, Palo Alto47 min
May 15, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler, Grundy31 min
May 15, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk35 min
May 15, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer33 min
May 15, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.