Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 42, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 27, 1998Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 27, 1998, 7:41 PM CDT for Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. It was in force for 34 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
Jun 27, 1998, 7:41 PM CDT (00:41 UTC)
Expired
Jun 27, 1998, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Cerro Gordo County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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
Jun 27, 7:46 PM CDTTornado F2Thornton, IA
Jun 27, 8:22 PM CDTTornado F2Swaledale, 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
Jun 27, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Jun 27, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 198 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1998-06-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1998-06-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -5 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2178 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

781 
WFUS1 KDSM 280042 RRA
TORDSM
IAC033-280115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
741 PM CDT SAT JUN 27 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CERRO GORDO COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 741 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 15 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF MASON CITY OR 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BURCHINAL MOVING
  EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THIS TORNADO CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
   BURCHINAL          BY 746 PM CDT
   ROCKWELL           BY 748 PM CDT
   MASON CITY         BY 756 PM CDT
   PORTLAND           BY 800 PM CDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

DEROY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 27, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWorth33 min
Jun 27, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo47 min
Jun 27, 8:15 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXFranklin35 min
Jun 27, 8:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo32 min
Jun 27, 8:44 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXCerro Gordo3 hr
Jun 27, 8:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCerro Gordo21 min
Jun 27, 8:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas36 min
Jun 27, 10:08 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXButler32 min
Jun 27, 10:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Guthrie62 min
Jun 27, 10:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone62 min
Jun 27, 10:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBremer, Butler32 min
Jun 27, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler50 min
Jun 27, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy48 min
Jun 27, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Polk, Story64 min
Jun 27, 11:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer50 min
Jun 27, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk62 min
Jun 27, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall62 min
Jun 27, 11:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk64 min
Jun 27, 11:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams, Ringgold, Taylor, Union61 min
Jun 28, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTama64 min
Jun 28, 12:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper65 min
Jun 28, 12:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPoweshiek65 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.