Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 15, 1998Kossuth County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1998, 2:38 PM CDT for Kossuth County, Iowa. It was in force for 22 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 15, 1998, 2:38 PM CDT (19:38 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1998, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Kossuth County, IA

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 15, 9:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1571 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 1998-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 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
1571 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
642 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDSM 151938 RRA
TORDSM
IAC109-152000-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN KOSSUTH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 300 PM CDT

* AT 234 PM CDT... STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 50 MILES WEST
  NORTHWEST OF MASON CITY OR 2 MILES SOUTH OF LEDYARD MOVING NORTH
  NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

* THIS TORNADO CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
   LEDYARD            BY 234 PM CDT
   LAKOTA             BY 234 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!
THIS WARNING SUPERCEDES THE PREVIOUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING.

BSS/JJ

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, 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, 4:13 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWapello32 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.