Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 17, 2002Greene County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 2002, 11:05 PM CDT for Greene County, Iowa. It was in force for 40 min. 3 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
Apr 17, 2002, 11:05 PM CDT (04:05 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 2002, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Greene County, IA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 17, 11:06 PM CDTHail 0.88Scranton, IA
Apr 17, 11:32 PM CDTHail 1Grand Jct, IA
Apr 17, 11:35 PM CDTHail 2Rippey, 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, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 2002-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 72 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2002-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
72 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2122 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
361 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDMX 180405
TORDSM
IAC073-180445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1105 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GREENE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1145 PM CDT

* AT 1103 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JEFFERSON...OR ABOUT 47 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF FORT DODGE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE...

  6 MILES SOUTH OF JEFFERSON AROUND 1130 PM.

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.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR GREENE COUNTY UNTIL 1130 PM.

LAT...LON 4219 9463 4187 9463 4186 9417 4220 9419

JOHNSON/KINNEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 9:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon66 min
Apr 17, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Crawford59 min
Apr 17, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon45 min
Apr 17, 10:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll, Greene66 min
Apr 17, 10:27 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAudubon33 min
Apr 17, 10:39 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCarroll36 min
Apr 17, 10:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie47 min
Apr 17, 11:34 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBoone41 min
Apr 17, 11:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPalo Alto, Pocahontas43 min
Apr 18, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Hamilton, Story59 min
Apr 18, 12:20 AM CDTTornado WarningDMXBoone25 min
Apr 18, 12:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPalo Alto47 min
Apr 18, 12:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXKossuth56 min
Apr 18, 12:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton, Hardin61 min
Apr 18, 1:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler, Franklin56 min
Apr 18, 2:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer41 min
Apr 18, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdams45 min
Apr 18, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie38 min
Apr 18, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton35 min
Apr 18, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas53 min
Apr 18, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHardin37 min
Apr 18, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone33 min
Apr 18, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGreene26 min
Apr 18, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory34 min
Apr 18, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone43 min
Apr 18, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor52 min
Apr 18, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk60 min
Apr 18, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGrundy, Hardin56 min
Apr 18, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie, Madison24 min
Apr 18, 6:14 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas61 min
Apr 18, 6:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXStory42 min
Apr 18, 6:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXRinggold50 min
Apr 18, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk60 min
Apr 18, 6:52 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPolk23 min
Apr 18, 6:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMadison, Warren65 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.