Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 19, 1998Marion County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1998, 4:53 PM CDT for Marion County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 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 19, 1998, 4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1998, 5:25 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:54 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 19, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1998-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2752 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1998-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -51 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

834 
WFUS1 KDSM 192154 RRA
TORDSM
IAC125-192225-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
453 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MARION COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 525 PM CDT

* AT 450 PM CDT... STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 21 MILES EAST
  SOUTHEAST OF DES MOINES OR NEAR RUNNELS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15
  MPH.

* THIS TORNADO CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
   PLEASANTVILLE      BY 455 PM CDT
   KNOXVILLER         BY 510 PM CDT

A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND GO TO THE BASEMENT IF A BASEMENT IS
NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

JUNGBLUTH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 3:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk, Warren31 min
May 19, 3:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk34 min
May 19, 3:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper34 min
May 19, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk32 min
May 19, 4:11 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPolk34 min
May 19, 4:23 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXJasper32 min
May 19, 4:34 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMarion, Polk36 min
May 19, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPoweshiek46 min
May 19, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk46 min
May 19, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper49 min
May 19, 5:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory34 min
May 19, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall51 min
May 19, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion33 min
May 19, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk31 min
May 19, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Warren33 min
May 19, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk45 min
May 19, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Marshall, Story31 min
May 19, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWapello46 min
May 19, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk48 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.