Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 63, NWS Des Moines, IA

September 20, 2001Lucas County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 2001, 5:07 PM CDT for Lucas County, Iowa. It was in force for 28 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
Sep 20, 2001, 5:07 PM CDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
Sep 20, 2001, 5:35 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Lucas County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:10 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
Sep 20, 5:30 PM CDTTornado F0Lucas, IATornado caused damage to a farmstead north-northeast of Lucas.
Sep 20, 5:32 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 65 ELucas, 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 nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 248 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 2001-09-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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 2001-09-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

884 
WFUS53 KDMX 202206
TORDSM
IAC117-202235-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
507 PM CDT THU SEP 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LUCAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 535 PM CDT

* AT 505 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHARITON...OR ABOUT 32 MILES SOUTH OF
  DES MOINES...MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE...
  6 MILES NORTH OF CHARITON AROUND 520 PM

IF IN MOBILE HOME OR NON-MOVING VEHICLE...EVACUATE THEM AND GO TO A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...GET INTO THE
NEAREST DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM THURSDAY
EVENING FOR IOWA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 1100 PM THURSDAY EVENING FOR EASTERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4115 9356 4090 9356 4090 9311 4118 9311

JOHNSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 11:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXUnion26 min
Sep 20, 11:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams, Taylor38 min
Sep 20, 12:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWarren29 min
Sep 20, 2:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth39 min
Sep 20, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWorth38 min
Sep 20, 2:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock, Kossuth, Winnebago43 min
Sep 20, 3:18 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHancock42 min
Sep 20, 3:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWorth31 min
Sep 20, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth28 min
Sep 20, 3:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt, Wright47 min
Sep 20, 3:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo44 min
Sep 20, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWarren29 min
Sep 20, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin44 min
Sep 20, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright28 min
Sep 20, 4:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler44 min
Sep 20, 4:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMarion, Warren49 min
Sep 20, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLucas38 min
Sep 20, 4:55 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWarren35 min
Sep 20, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton, Hardin44 min
Sep 20, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska39 min
Sep 20, 5:29 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXLucas31 min
Sep 20, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMonroe31 min
Sep 20, 6:05 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAppanoose30 min
Sep 20, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXLucas43 min
Sep 20, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis29 min
Sep 20, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose40 min
Sep 20, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis18 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.