Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Omaha, NE

April 17, 2002Shelby County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 2002, 9:13 PM CDT for Shelby County, Iowa. It was in force for 32 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: Apr 17, 2002, 9:13 PM CDT (02:13 UTC)
Expired: Apr 17, 2002, 9:45 PM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Omaha, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Shelby County, IA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 17, 9:46 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Irwin, IA
Apr 17, 9:50 PM CDT	Hail 1	Gray, 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, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 101 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: 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 KOAX 180213
TOROMA
IAC165-180245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
913 PM CDT WED APR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SHELBY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 909 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH A POSSIBLE
  TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED 2 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF PANAMA...OR ABOUT 43 MILES NORTHEAST OF OMAHA...MOVING
  EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  DEFIANCE
  KIRKMAN
  IRWIN

THIS CONTINUES THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING FOR SHELBY COUNTY.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED BY THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
NOT BE OCCURRING WHEN THE WARNING IS ISSUED...BUT ONE IS EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND
GLASS DOORS.

LAT...LON 4179 9555 4161 9550 4168 9492 4190 9498

GRIFFIS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 7:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison	51 min
Apr 17, 8:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Monona	31 min
Apr 17, 8:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Harrison, Shelby	33 min
Apr 17, 9:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Shelby	15 min
Apr 18, 4:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Page	24 min
Apr 18, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Montgomery	18 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.