Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 31, 2000Jones County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2000, 11:48 AM CDT for Jones County, Iowa. It was in force for 27 min. 1 report 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 31, 2000, 11:48 AM CDT (16:48 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2000, 12:15 PM CDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Jones County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:51 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 31, 12:00 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Center Jct, IA	A tornado touched down briefly at Center Junction. The tornado knocked down several large trees and numerous limbs, blocking a few roads. No injuries were reported.

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 31, 10:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 74 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -272 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 906 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 360 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

510 
WFUS53 KDVN 311649
TORMLI
IAC105-311715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1148 AM CDT WED MAY 31 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN JONES COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1215 PM CDT

* AT 1146 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTH OF
  JONES COUNTY PARK...OR 8 MILES EAST OF ANAMOSA...MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  4 MILES NORTH OF HALE BY 1150 AM CDT.
   ONSLOW BY 1155 AM CDT.
  6 MILES SOUTH OF CANTON BY 1205 PM CDT.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. SEEK
SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND
ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM CDT
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FOR EASTERN IOWA AND NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS.

LAT...LON 4216 9123 4200 9123 4198 9091 4226 9090

WOLF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 9:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Jones, Linn	32 min
May 30, 9:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Benton, Buchanan	25 min
May 30, 10:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Linn	24 min
May 30, 10:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Linn	32 min
May 31, 12:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Johnson, Louisa, Muscatine, Washington	28 min
May 31, 1:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Louisa	34 min
May 31, 1:25 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Johnson, Louisa, Washington	3 hr
May 31, 4:25 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Johnson, Louisa, Muscatine, Washington	3 hr
May 31, 10:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Benton, Buchanan	41 min
May 31, 11:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Linn	43 min
May 31, 11:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Delaware	46 min
May 31, 11:24 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Jones, Linn	36 min
May 31, 12:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Clinton, Scott	46 min
May 31, 3:31 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Buchanan, Delaware	4 hr

Nearby

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