Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 202, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 9, 2003Adams County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 2003, 4:58 PM CDT for Adams County, Iowa. It was in force for 47 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 9, 2003, 4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired: Jul 9, 2003, 5:45 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Adams County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:58 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 9, 2:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 138 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: 3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -462 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2332 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -17 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KDMX 092158
SVRDMX
IAC003-092245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
458 PM CDT WED JUL 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ADAMS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT

* AT 453 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF CARBON...OR ABOUT 48 MILES
  EAST OF COUNCIL BLUFFS...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...

  NEAR CARBON AROUND 505 PM...
  5 MILES NORTH OF CORNING MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AROUND 510 PM...
  5 MILES NORTH OF CORNING AROUND 515 PM AND
  NEAR PRESCOTT AROUND 525 PM.

HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS IS LIKELY IN THE WARNED AREA.

LAT...LON 4116 9493 4093 9493 4091 9449 4115 9449

KULA

$$

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 Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 9, 11:05 AM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 11:05 AM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1105 AM CDT WED JUL 9 2003

ZONE UPDATE COMING OUT SHORTLY MAINLY TO TWEAK TEMPS.  ACTIVE
WEATHER WITH THREAT OF SEVERE AND HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN OVR CENTRAL
IOWA UNTIL THE UPPER SYSTEM PUSHES EAST THIS AFTERNOON AND THE
SURFACE LOW EXITS THIS EVENING.  BEST THREAT FOR SEVERE LOOKS TO BE
OVER SOUTHEASTERN IOWA BETWEEN 19Z AND 01Z MAINLY SOUTH OF THE 850
BOUNDARY AND ALONG THE SURFACE BOUNDARY.  CLOUD COVER COULD HAVE AT
LEAST SOME IMPACT THOUGH.  I THOUGHT WE WOULD SEE MORE SUN THAN WE
ARE.  GIVEN THE DYNAMICS OF THE SITUATION THOUGH THE AFFECT OF THE
CLOUDS MAY BE TO DELAY THREAT.

.DSM...FLOOD WATCH ALONG AND NORTH OF I-80 THROUGH MIDNIGHT THURSDAY
MORNING.

FAB

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 9, 4:32 AM CDT, 12 hours 26 minutes before

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086-
092>097-092300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
432 AM CDT WED JUL 9 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL IOWA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT MOST OF CENTRAL IOWA TODAY. THE
MAIN THREATS WILL BE VERY HEAVY RAINS PRODUCING FLASH FLOODING...AS
WELL AS THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS. THE FLASH FLOODING RISK
WILL BE MAINLY FROM AN OTTUMWA TO DES MOINES AND CARROLL LINE AND
NORTHWARD. THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE ALONG AND
SOUTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 30. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL
DIMINISH DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS CENTRAL
IOWA AS A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM RACES ACROSS THE STATE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
SEVERAL DRY DAYS ARE FORECAST BEFORE THE NEXT CHANCE FOR
THUNDERSTORMS ON MONDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY TODAY.

&&

MORE INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DMX (ALL LOWER
CASE).

RUSSELL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 9, 1:35 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Crawford	55 min
Jul 9, 4:57 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Carroll, Greene	48 min
Jul 9, 5:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Boone, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie	54 min
Jul 9, 5:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Polk, Story	44 min
Jul 9, 6:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Warren	46 min
Jul 9, 6:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper	51 min
Jul 9, 3:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Audubon	59 min
Jul 9, 3:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cass	52 min
Jul 9, 4:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Audubon	42 min
Jul 9, 4:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Hardin	47 min
Jul 9, 4:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cass	50 min
Jul 9, 4:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Guthrie	42 min
Jul 9, 5:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Hamilton	9 min
Jul 9, 6:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Ringgold	50 min
Jul 9, 6:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Hamilton, Hardin	38 min
Jul 9, 6:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Davis	53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.