Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Omaha, NE

October 1, 2002Harrison County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Oct 1, 2002, 6:45 PM CDT for Harrison County, Iowa. It was in force for 45 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: Oct 1, 2002, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
Expired: Oct 1, 2002, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Omaha, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Harrison County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:46 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
Oct 1, 6:45 PM CDT	Hail 1.5	Modale, IA
Oct 1, 6:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Modale, IA	Thunderstorm wind gusts of 55 to 60 mph accompanied hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter. The hail damaged soybean crops and killed 200 pheasants in a hunting preserve.
Oct 1, 7:05 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Woodbine, 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
Oct 1, 3:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 50 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: 976 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -220 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1127 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

266 
WFUS53 KOAX 012345
TOROMA
IAC085-020030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
645 PM CDT TUE OCT 1 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 644 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH A POSSIBLE
  TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED 5 MILES
  SOUTH OF MODALE...OR ABOUT 19 MILES NORTH OF OMAHA...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MODALE...MISSOURI VALLEY AROUND 650 PM CDT
  MAGNOLIA...LOGAN AROUND 700 PM CDT
  WOODBINE AROUND 710 PM CDT

THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR
HARRISON COUNTY.  

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT. IF A BASEMENT
IS NOT AVAILABLE...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. AVOID WINDOWS.

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO THREAT...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND 
ARE EXPECTED.

LAT...LON 4159 9611 4153 9600 4152 9598 4154 9569
          4173 9562 4181 9590

NIETFELD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 30, 9:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Page	41 min
Oct 1, 2:52 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Fremont, Mills	23 min
Oct 1, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Pottawattamie	40 min
Oct 1, 6:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Pottawattamie	35 min
Oct 1, 6:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Harrison, Shelby	42 min
Oct 1, 6:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Mills	50 min
Oct 1, 6:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Harrison	45 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.