Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Quad Cities, IA

March 9, 2002Buchanan County, Linn County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 9, 2002, 1:43 AM CST for Buchanan County, Linn County, Iowa. It was in force for 62 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: Mar 9, 2002, 1:43 AM CST (07:43 UTC)
Expired: Mar 9, 2002, 2:45 AM CST
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Buchanan County, IA, Linn County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:43 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
Mar 9, 2:08 AM CST	Hail 0.75	Fairfax, IA
Mar 9, 2:15 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Cedar Rapids, IA	Large 40 foot tree toppled. The tree was estimated at 120 years old.

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
Mar 8, 11:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 124 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: 184 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1023 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KDVN 090743
SVRMLI
IAC019-113-090845-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
141 AM CST SAT MAR 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BUCHANAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST IOWA
  LINN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 245 AM CST

* AT 142 AM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY DAMAGING WINDS ALONG A LINE
  EXTENDING FROM 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF INDEPENDENCE TO 10 MILES WEST  
  OF CEDAR RAPIDS..MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM HAS
  A HISTORY OF PRODUCING 60 MPH WINDS.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  CEDAR RAPIDS
  MARION
  INDEPENDENCE

THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH
AND SMALL HAIL. TAKE COVER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE UNTIL THESE STORMS 
PASS. 

THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL...WHICH MAY
FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE
AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS AS THEY MAY BE WASHED OUT.


$$

REA

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 9, 1:14 AM CST, 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 9, 1:14 AM CST, 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
114 AM CST SAT MAR 9 2002

VIGOURUS SPRING STORM MOVING THROUGH THIS MORNING PRODUCING SEVERE
WEATHER THIS MORNING...THEN WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY WITH BRIEF SHOT
OF WINTERY PRECIP THROWN IN. WITH ON-GOING SEVERE WEATHER AND
POTENTIAL FOR IFPS PACKAGE PROBLEMS LEFT OVER FROM DAYSHIFT...WILL
KEEP DISCUSSION BRIEF AND THUS HAVE ISSUED EARLY.

ENTIRE CWFA IN WARM SECTOR WITH DEEP SURFACE LOW OVER CENTRAL IA AT
06Z. FEW STRONG TSRA EARLIER IN WARM SECTOR...BUT MAIN CONCERN IS
HIGH WINDS WITH IMPRESSIVE LINE OF SEVERE STORMS WITH HIGH WINDS
BOWING FROM LOW TO CENTRAL MO ANTICIPATED TO RACE INTO W CENTRAL AND
NW IL ZONES BY FORECAST ISSUANCE. SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL EXIST AHEAD
OF THIS LINE AND WILL WAIT UNTIL LAST MINUTE FOR WORDING AND BREAKUP
OF EASTERN ZONES. FAST CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BEHIND TSRA WILL
TRANSLATE EASTWARD WITH FRONT AND COULD SEE SOME 1 INCH
ACCUMULATIONS IN MORNING... ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTH WHERE WRAP
AROUND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 18Z.

00Z MODELS LOOK TOO FAST AND TOO WEAK WITH SURFACE LOW...BUT ALL IN
GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH LOW SHIFTING TO CENTRAL WI BY 12Z WITH COLD
FRONT THROUGH W CENTRAL IL. THIS MOVEMENT BACKED UP BY MSAS 3 HR
PRESSURE FALL TRENDS. CURRENT WIND ADVISORY FOR ENTIRE CWFA LOOKS
GOOD WITH MOS GUIDANCE INDICATING 30 TO 40 KT WINDS FOR CID AT 18Z
WITH TIGHT PRESS GRADIENT AND STRONG CAA OVER ENTIRE AREA. ARCTIC
AIRMASS PULLED IN BEHIND LOW WILL WARRANT MORNING HIGH TEMPERATURE
WORDING WITH FALLING TEMPS THROUGH DAY.

AFTER TODAY...SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE UPPER TROUGH MOVES TO GREAT LAKES
TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY ZONAL TO SLIGHTLY RIDGING FLOW ALOFT THROUGH
EARLY. NEXT SHORTWAVE AND NEXT COLD FRONT TO BRING SNOW CHANCES
MONDAY AFTERNOON. DO NOT ANTICIPATE MUCH CHANGE IN REMAINDER OF
EXTENDED WITH NEXT PRECIP CHANCES THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

.DVN...WIND ADVISORY SATURDAY.
IA...IAZ040>42-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099.
IL...ILZ001-002-007-009-015>018-024>026-034-035.
MO...MOZ009-010.

DLS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 9, 1:15 AM CST, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
115 AM CST SAT MAR 09 2002

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0105 AM    VICTOR                    IA   60 MPH TSTM GUST
03/09/02   IOWA                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 9, 12:37 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Iowa, Jefferson, Keokuk, Van Buren	68 min
Mar 9, 1:06 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Benton	39 min
Mar 9, 1:20 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Henry, Johnson, Lee, Washington	70 min
Mar 9, 2:35 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Des Moines	40 min
Mar 9, 2:50 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Scott	40 min
Mar 9, 3:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Clinton	40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2002 Every 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.