Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 28, 1998Crawford County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1998, 9:52 PM CDT for Crawford County, Iowa. It was in force for 33 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 28, 1998, 9:52 PM CDT (02:52 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1998, 10:25 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Crawford County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:49 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 28, 10:12 PM CDTHail 1.75Deloit, IA
May 28, 10:18 PM CDTHail 1.75Vail, 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 28, 8:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 114 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2835 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
2835 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1954 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 290252 RRA
TORDSM
IAC047-290325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
952 PM CDT THU MAY 28 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN AND CENTRAL CRAWFORD COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1025 PM CDT

* AT 950 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 60 MILES EAST
  SOUTHEAST OF SIOUX CITY OR 3 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF DENISON
  MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THIS TORNADO CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
   DELOIT             BY 953 PM CDT
   DENISON            BY 955 PM CDT
   VAIL               BY 1005 PM CDT

ABANDON MOBILE HOMES! GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING. AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

SEARCY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac20 min
May 28, 8:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun36 min
May 28, 8:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCalhoun, Webster33 min
May 28, 9:22 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCrawford33 min
May 28, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWebster36 min
May 28, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone34 min
May 28, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory50 min
May 28, 10:21 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford39 min
May 28, 10:21 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford34 min
May 28, 10:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall50 min
May 28, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford34 min
May 28, 10:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll35 min
May 28, 11:04 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll36 min
May 28, 11:10 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAudubon35 min
May 28, 11:25 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGreene, Guthrie35 min
May 28, 11:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAudubon, Guthrie36 min
May 28, 11:59 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas, Guthrie51 min
May 29, 12:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon36 min
May 29, 12:24 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXGuthrie26 min
May 29, 12:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass32 min
May 29, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair, Dallas, Guthrie50 min
May 29, 1:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass31 min
May 29, 2:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams34 min
May 29, 2:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams39 min
May 29, 2:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair, Union49 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.