Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 18, 2000Washington County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 2000, 12:35 PM CDT for Washington County, Iowa. It was in force for 25 min. 4 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
May 18, 2000, 12:35 PM CDT (17:35 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 2000, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:38 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 18, 12:40 PM CDTThunderstorm WindWashington, IAA house trailer being transported was blown onto it's side by high winds.
May 18, 12:49 PM CDTHail 1.75Washington, IA
May 18, 12:55 PM CDTHail 1.5Washington, IA
May 18, 1:05 PM CDTHail 1.75Washington, 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 18, 11:30 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 106 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2000-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1779 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2000-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 178 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1779 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
796 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
10.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDVN 181736
TORMLI
IAC183-181800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1235 PM CDT THU MAY 18 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IOWA

* UNTIL 100 PM CDT

* AT 1235 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTH OF WEST
  CHESTER...OR 6 MILES WEST OF WASHINGTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   WEST CHESTER BY 1240 PM CDT.
   JUST NW OF WASHINGTON BY 1245 PM CDT.
   6 MILES NORTHWEST OF HASKINS BY 1255 PM CDT.
   RIVERSIDE BY 105 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.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT
WAS ALREADY IN EFFECT.


NICHOLS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 10:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton, Jackson, Jones50 min
May 18, 10:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque50 min
May 18, 10:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton, Buchanan, Delaware, Linn50 min
May 18, 11:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNIowa, Johnson42 min
May 18, 11:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJefferson, Keokuk50 min
May 18, 12:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Johnson, Linn48 min
May 18, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson, Washington45 min
May 18, 12:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware24 min
May 18, 12:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJefferson, Keokuk46 min
May 18, 12:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNIowa, Johnson46 min
May 18, 12:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDubuque29 min
May 18, 1:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson, Louisa, Washington44 min
May 18, 1:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Johnson, Muscatine30 min
May 18, 1:32 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMuscatine28 min
May 18, 1:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar29 min
May 18, 1:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLouisa29 min
May 18, 1:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJones28 min
May 18, 1:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Scott52 min
May 18, 1:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNMuscatine46 min
May 18, 2:21 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNIowa24 min

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.