Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 30, 2003Wapello County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 2003, 7:41 PM CDT for Wapello County, Iowa. It was in force for 49 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: Apr 30, 2003, 7:41 PM CDT (00:41 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 2003, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wapello County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 135 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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
Apr 30, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 179 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: 1022 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -104 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 839 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 457 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 611 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 12.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

464 
WFUS53 KDMX 010041
TORDMX
IAC179-010130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
740 PM CDT WED APR 30 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN WAPELLO COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IOWA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF OTTUMWA

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 737 PM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OTTUMWA...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE...

  6 MILES SOUTH OF OTTUMWA AROUND 750 PM AND
  3 MILES SOUTH OF AGENCY AROUND 755 PM.

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 WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL AND 
NORTHERN WAPELLO COUNTY INCLUDING DOWNTON OTTUMWA.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR
SOUTHERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4102 9263 4090 9264 4091 9219 4102 9220

KINNEY

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 7:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Wapello	66 min
Apr 30, 7:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Wayne	41 min
Apr 30, 7:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Wayne	51 min
Apr 30, 8:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Dallas, Polk	44 min
Apr 30, 8:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Wayne	51 min
Apr 30, 8:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Mahaska	50 min
Apr 30, 8:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Appanoose	48 min
Apr 30, 8:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Madison	20 min
Apr 30, 8:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Appanoose	40 min
Apr 30, 8:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Warren	54 min
Apr 30, 8:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper	67 min
Apr 30, 8:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Polk	43 min
Apr 30, 9:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Davis	66 min
Apr 30, 9:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Poweshiek	42 min
Apr 30, 9:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper, Marshall	48 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.