Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

June 19, 2002Plymouth County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this tornado warning at Jun 19, 2002, 9:37 PM CDT for Plymouth County, Iowa. It was in force for 23 min. 2 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
Jun 19, 2002, 9:37 PM CDT (02:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 19, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Plymouth County, IA

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:39 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
Jun 19, 9:38 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61 ECraig, IAThunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including 3 inch diameter branches blown down.
Jun 19, 9:45 PM CDTHail 1Craig, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 19, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 2002-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1342 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 2002-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 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
1342 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2359 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KFSD 200237
TORFSD
IAC149-200300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
937 PM CDT WED JUN 19 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN PLYMOUTH COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT

* AT 937 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF LE MARS...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  CRAIG AROUND 945 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

LAT...LON 4292 9650 4278 9649 4277 9602 4291 9602

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 19, 8:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDSioux22 min
Jun 19, 9:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDLyon, Sioux33 min
Jun 19, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFSDPlymouth31 min
Jun 19, 9:53 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDSioux22 min
Jun 19, 10:00 PM CDTTornado WarningFSDPlymouth15 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.