Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 5, 2003Union County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 2003, 6:52 PM CDT for Union County, Iowa. It was in force for 23 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 5, 2003, 6:52 PM CDT (23:52 UTC)
Expired: Jul 5, 2003, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 23 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Union County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 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.

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 5, 5:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 186 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: 1131 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -343 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1373 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDMX 052352
TORDMX
IAC175-060015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
652 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN UNION COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 649 PM...LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR AFTON...OR
  ABOUT 47 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE...

  NEAR THAYER AROUND 710 PM AND
  6 MILES SOUTH OF LORIMOR AROUND 715 PM.

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY
ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

THIS IS A HAZARDOUS SITUATION. SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT...OR IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OR IN A
CAR...SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT SUNDAY
MORNING FOR SOUTHERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4115 9427 4092 9425 4092 9405 4115 9404

RUSSELL

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 10:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Pocahontas	49 min
Jul 4, 10:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Humboldt	41 min
Jul 4, 10:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Sac	60 min
Jul 4, 10:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun	56 min
Jul 4, 11:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Humboldt	61 min
Jul 4, 11:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Wright	59 min
Jul 4, 11:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Webster	57 min
Jul 4, 11:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun	63 min
Jul 4, 11:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Greene	65 min
Jul 5, 12:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Crawford	62 min
Jul 5, 12:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Hardin	39 min
Jul 5, 12:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Boone, Story	52 min
Jul 5, 12:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Grundy	53 min
Jul 5, 12:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Black Hawk, Tama	57 min
Jul 5, 1:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Carroll	43 min
Jul 5, 1:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Bremer	48 min
Jul 5, 5:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair, Cass	32 min
Jul 5, 6:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Union	22 min
Jul 5, 6:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair	26 min
Jul 5, 6:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Clarke	47 min
Jul 5, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adams	58 min
Jul 5, 6:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Union	56 min
Jul 5, 6:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Lucas, Wayne	66 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.