Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2000
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 30, 2000, 9:28 PM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 min. 5 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, 9:28 PM CDT (02:28 UTC)
- Expired
- May 30, 2000, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 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), 8 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:13 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 9:35 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Des Moines, IA | Intermittent path |
| May 30, 9:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 E | Saylorville, IA | |
| May 30, 9:49 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Des Moines, IA | |
| May 30, 10:00 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Des Moines, IA | Brief touchdown |
| May 30, 10:05 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Polk City, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 7:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 233 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
732 WFUS53 KDMX 310229 TORDSM IAC153-310300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 928 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 1000 PM * AT 923 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER GRIMES...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE... NEAR URBANDALE AROUND 935 PM NEAR CLIVE AROUND 940 PM NEAR WEST DES MOINES AROUND 950 PM NEAR DES MOINES AROUND 1000 PM NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS CONTINUE INCLUDING NEAR GRIMES. IF YOU ARE IN A SCHOOL...HOSPITAL OR NURSING HOME...GO TO YOUR PRE-DESIGNATED SHELTER AREA. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND EXTERIOR WALLS. LAT...LON 4186 9382 4153 9379 4152 9334 4186 9335 & SEARCY NNNN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 7:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Franklin | 33 min |
| May 30, 7:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Boone | 22 min |
| May 30, 7:31 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Boone | 14 min |
| May 30, 7:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Dallas | 27 min |
| May 30, 7:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 34 min |
| May 30, 8:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Black Hawk | 34 min |
| May 30, 8:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 38 min |
| May 30, 8:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Dallas | 13 min |
| May 30, 8:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Polk | 25 min |
| May 30, 8:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Black Hawk | 32 min |
| May 30, 8:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Hamilton | 43 min |
| May 30, 8:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Polk | 32 min |
| May 30, 9:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Hamilton, Hardin | 27 min |
| May 30, 9:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Grundy, Tama | 40 min |
| May 30, 9:25 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DMX | Polk | 4 hr |
| May 30, 9:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Hardin, Marshall | 40 min |
| May 30, 9:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Story | 37 min |
| May 30, 10:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Jasper, Polk | 45 min |
| May 30, 10:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper | 43 min |
| May 30, 11:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Grundy | 28 min |
| May 30, 11:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Tama | 57 min |
| May 30, 11:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper | 47 min |
| May 31, 12:16 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Grundy | 29 min |
| May 31, 9:16 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Franklin | 29 min |
| May 31, 9:20 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Hamilton, Hardin | 25 min |
| May 31, 10:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Black Hawk, Grundy, Tama | 28 min |
| May 31, 10:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Polk | 35 min |
| May 31, 11:03 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DMX | Black Hawk | 3 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.