Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 20, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 10, 2002Cerro Gordo County, Franklin County, Wright County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 10, 2002, 9:33 PM CDT for Cerro Gordo County, Franklin County, Wright County, Iowa. It was in force for 18 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 10, 2002, 9:33 PM CDT (02:33 UTC)
Expired: Jul 11, 2002, 3:30 PM CDT
In force: 18 hr
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Cerro Gordo County, IA, Franklin County, IA, Wright County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:37 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 211 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: 324 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 513 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 93 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.

000 
WGUS53 KDMX 110233
FFWDSM
IAC033-069-197-110830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
933 PM CDT WED JUL 10 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CERRO GORDO COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  FRANKLIN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA
  EASTERN WRIGHT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 330 AM

* AT 922 PM...RADAR INDICATED SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
  HEAVY RAIN IN WESTERN CERRO GORDO COUNTY...MOST OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
  AND EASTERN WRIGHT COUNTY.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY SOUTH
  AT 5 MPH.

* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL WILL 
  CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. RAINFALL RATES WILL AVERAGE
  UP TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR. 

LOCATIONS INCLUDED IN THE WARNING ARE...
ALEXANDER...BELMOND...COULTER...DOUGHERTY...DOWS...GALT...LATIMER...
MESERVEY...POPEJOY...ROCKWELL. ..ROWAN...SWALEDALE...THORNTON AND 
VENTURA.

FLASH FLOODS OCCUR QUICKLY...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. AVOID WATER
COVERED ROADS...THE ROAD MAY BE WASHED OUT. LESS THAN ONE FOOT OF
FAST FLOWING WATER CAN SWEEP AN AUTOMOBILE OFF THE ROAD.

LAT...LON 4326 9304 4256 9304 4256 9366 4291 9366
          4291 9351 4326 9350

COGIL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 10, 9:33 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Wright	6 hr
Jul 11, 4:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Ringgold	63 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2002 Every flash flood warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.