Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS La Crosse, WI

May 8, 2002Chickasaw County, Iowa

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2002, 6:38 PM CDT for Chickasaw County, Iowa. It was in force for 52 min. 1 report 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 8, 2002, 6:38 PM CDT (23:38 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2002, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Chickasaw County, IA

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:41 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 8, 6:58 PM CDTTornado F0Ionia, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 219 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 2002-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2002-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KARX 082338
TORLSE
IAC037-090030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
638 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LA CROSSE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CHICKASAW COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 638 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF NEW HAMPTON..MOVING NORTHEAST AT 
  25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  NEAR JERICO AT 650 PM CDT

TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

BOYNE

The office that day

Everything else NWS La Crosse, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXFloyd44 min
May 8, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXHoward, Mitchell54 min
May 8, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXChickasaw50 min
May 8, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXHoward, Winneshiek63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

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.