Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 31, 2002Wapello County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 2002, 10:38 PM CDT for Wapello County, Iowa. It was in force for 67 min. 2 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 31, 2002, 10:38 PM CDT (03:38 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 2002, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Whole counties

County Wapello County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:42 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 31, 11:49 PM CDTHail 1Eddyville, IA
May 31, 11:54 PM CDTHail 1.75Chillicothe, 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 333 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2002-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1410 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2002-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
1410 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2275 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

195 
WUUS53 KDMX 010338
SVRDSM
IAC179-010445-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1038 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WAPELLO COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF OTTUMWA

* UNTIL 1145 PM CDT

* AT 1032 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES WEST OF KIRKVILLE...OR ABOUT 16 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF OTTUMWA...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  IN EDDYVILLE NOW...
  NEAR KIRKVILLE AROUND 1050 PM...
  NEAR CHILLICOTHE AROUND 1055 PM...
  NEAR OTTUMWA AROUND 1110 PM AND
  NEAR AGENCY AROUND 1125 PM.

DAMAGING HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS IS LIKELY IN THE WARNED
AREA.

LARGE HAIL CAN CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY AND EXTENSIVE PROPERTY DAMAGE.
SEEK SAFETY IN A STURDY BUILDING...AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

KINNEY/FORSTER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska47 min
May 31, 10:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska38 min
May 31, 11:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDavis56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2002Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.