Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 30, 2000Polk County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 30, 2000, 8:35 PM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 25 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 2000, 8:35 PM CDT (01:35 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 2000, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Polk County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 16 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:38 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 30, 8:35 PM CDTHail 1Ankeny, IA
May 30, 8:47 PM CDTHail 1Ankeny, 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 30, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 239 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 2000-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2979 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 2000-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 143 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
2979 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-171 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1276 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
516 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

138 
WFUS53 KDMX 310136
TORDSM
IAC153-310200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
835 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  POLK COUNTY IN CENTRAL IOWA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF DES MOINES

* UNTIL 900 PM

* AT 833 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER SAYLORVILLE...OR ABOUT 9 MILES NORTH OF DES MOINES...
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE...
  7 MILES NORTH OF WINDSOR HEIGHTS AROUND 840 PM
  NEAR ANKENY AROUND 850 PM
  6 MILES WEST OF ALTOONA AROUND 900 PM
  IN THE DES MOINES METRO AREA THROUGH 900 PM

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY
ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

TAKE COVER NOW

LAT...LON 4182 9361 4152 9380 4151 9334 4169 9336

SEARCY
NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin33 min
May 30, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone22 min
May 30, 7:31 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBoone14 min
May 30, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas27 min
May 30, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk34 min
May 30, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk34 min
May 30, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk38 min
May 30, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas13 min
May 30, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk32 min
May 30, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton43 min
May 30, 8:58 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPolk32 min
May 30, 9:03 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHamilton, Hardin27 min
May 30, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy, Tama40 min
May 30, 9:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXPolk4 hr
May 30, 9:28 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPolk32 min
May 30, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHardin, Marshall40 min
May 30, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory37 min
May 30, 10:00 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXJasper, Polk45 min
May 30, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper43 min
May 30, 11:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy28 min
May 30, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTama57 min
May 30, 11:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper47 min
May 31, 12:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy29 min
May 31, 9:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin29 min
May 31, 9:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton, Hardin25 min
May 31, 10:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Grundy, Tama28 min
May 31, 10:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk35 min
May 31, 11:03 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXBlack Hawk3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2000Every tornado warning in 2000Tornadoes in 2000

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.