Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1998, 4:34 PM CDT for Marion County, Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 36 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 19, 1998, 4:34 PM CDT (21:34 UTC)
- Expired
- May 19, 1998, 5:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Marion County, IA, Polk County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 4:45 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Runnells, IA | Small tornado with brief touchdown |
| May 19, 4:45 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Pleasantville, IA | Small tornado with numerous brief touchdowns |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 236 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
- 2752 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 917 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -51 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -2.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
737 WFUS1 KDSM 192135 RRA TORDSM IAC125-153-192210- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 434 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHWESTERN MARION COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA SOUTHEASTERN POLK COUNTY IN CENTRAL IOWA * UNTIL 510 PM CDT * AT 433 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 11 MILES EAST OF DES MOINES OR 4 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF RUNNELLS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. * THIS TORNADO CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR... RUNNELLS BY 442 PM CDT SWAN BY 456 PM CDT GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR THIS STORM HAS BEGUN TO TURN MORE SOUTHEAST FROM PREVIOUS MOVEMENTS. JUNGBLUTH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 3:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk, Warren | 31 min |
| May 19, 3:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 34 min |
| May 19, 3:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper | 34 min |
| May 19, 4:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 32 min |
| May 19, 4:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Polk | 34 min |
| May 19, 4:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Jasper | 32 min |
| May 19, 4:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Poweshiek | 46 min |
| May 19, 4:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 46 min |
| May 19, 4:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Marion | 32 min |
| May 19, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper | 49 min |
| May 19, 5:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Story | 34 min |
| May 19, 5:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Marshall | 51 min |
| May 19, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Marion | 33 min |
| May 19, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 31 min |
| May 19, 6:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Dallas, Warren | 33 min |
| May 19, 6:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 45 min |
| May 19, 6:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper, Marshall, Story | 31 min |
| May 19, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wapello | 46 min |
| May 19, 6:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 48 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.