Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 56, NWS Des Moines, IA

June 18, 2001Humboldt County, Webster County, Wright County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 2001, 8:59 PM CDT for Humboldt County, Webster County, Wright County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 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
Jun 18, 2001, 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 2001, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Humboldt County, IA, Webster County, IA, Wright County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:03 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
Jun 18, 9:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50 MClarion, 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
Jun 18, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 231 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 00:00Z on 2001-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2360 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2001-06-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
2360 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1718 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
13.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDMX 190202
TORDSM

IAC091-197-187-190230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTED TO ADD NORTHEAST 
WESTER COUNTY
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
859 PM CDT MON JUN 18 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN HUMBOLDT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  WRIGHT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  NORTHEAST WEBSTER COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 858 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF EAGLE GROVE...OR ABOUT 14 MILES NORTHEAST
  OF FORT DODGE...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE...
  6 MILES SOUTH OF CLARION AROUND 910 PM

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...GO TO A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A
LAST RESORT...GET IN A CULVERT OR DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR
HANDS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM TUESDAY
MORNING FOR IOWA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 1100 PM MONDAY EVENING FOR WEST CENTRAL IOWA. A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM MONDAY
EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4289 9417 4265 9399 4257 9347 4292 9350

JOHNSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth38 min
Jun 18, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXEmmet19 min
Jun 18, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPalo Alto38 min
Jun 18, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas48 min
Jun 18, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford40 min
Jun 18, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth, Winnebago39 min
Jun 18, 8:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth42 min
Jun 18, 8:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt, Webster42 min
Jun 18, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock42 min
Jun 18, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWinnebago40 min
Jun 18, 8:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon, Carroll, Crawford42 min
Jun 18, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWorth20 min
Jun 18, 9:15 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll30 min
Jun 18, 9:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock, Winnebago31 min
Jun 18, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock, Winnebago23 min
Jun 18, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCass45 min
Jun 18, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory41 min
Jun 18, 10:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Guthrie43 min
Jun 18, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWorth30 min
Jun 18, 10:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGrundy28 min
Jun 18, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarshall42 min
Jun 18, 10:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWorth28 min
Jun 18, 10:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXJasper, Polk46 min
Jun 18, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTama38 min
Jun 18, 10:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion, Warren46 min
Jun 18, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk23 min
Jun 18, 10:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClarke, Decatur, Ringgold47 min
Jun 18, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon28 min
Jun 18, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001

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.