Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2002, 8:54 PM CDT for Poweshiek County, Iowa. It was in force for 36 min. 5 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 8, 2002, 8:54 PM CDT (01:54 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2002, 9:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Poweshiek County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:55 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 8:57 PM CDT | Hail 1 | New Sharon, IA | |
| May 8, 8:59 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Searsboro, IA | |
| May 8, 9:03 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 65 E | Searsboro, IA | |
| May 8, 9:03 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Searsboro, IA | |
| May 8, 9:13 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Montezuma, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 173 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1642 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 951 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 227 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 6.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS53 KDMX 090154 TORDSM IAC157-090230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 853 PM CDT WED MAY 8 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN POWESHIEK COUNTY IN CENTRAL IOWA * UNTIL 930 PM CDT * AT 850 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER SEARSBORO...OR ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF OTTUMWA... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE... NEAR MONTEZUMA AROUND 910 PM... 4 MILES NORTH OF DEEP RIVER AROUND 925 PM AND NEAR GUERNSEY AROUND 925 PM. THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA. 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 TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHERN IOWA. LAT...LON 4167 9277 4151 9276 4151 9231 4178 9230 JOHNSON
The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 7:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Ringgold | 48 min |
| May 8, 7:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Clarke | 41 min |
| May 8, 7:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Decatur, Warren | 39 min |
| May 8, 7:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Marion | 65 min |
| May 8, 7:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Wayne | 47 min |
| May 8, 8:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Marion, Warren | 44 min |
| May 8, 8:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Lucas, Monroe | 44 min |
| May 8, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Jasper, Mahaska, Poweshiek | 49 min |
| May 8, 8:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DMX | Mahaska, Marion | 39 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.