Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Quad Cities, IA

April 30, 2003Des Moines County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 2003, 6:19 PM CDT for Des Moines County, Iowa. It was in force for 56 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, 6:19 PM CDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 2003, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Des Moines County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:22 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 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 849 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 478 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 567 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.

835 
WFUS53 KDVN 302319
TORDVN
IAC057-010015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
618 PM CDT WED APR 30 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DES MOINES COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST IOWA

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 612 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF YARMOUTH...OR 6
  MILES NORTHEAST OF MOUNT PLEASANT...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   YARMOUTH BY 625 PM CDT.
   PLEASANT GROVE BY 630 PM CDT.
   GARLAND BY 635 PM CDT.
   MEDIAPOLIS BY 640 PM CDT.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER NOW

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT OR ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF A BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM.

REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR
RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHEASTERN IOWA AND NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHEAST
MISSOURI.

LAT...LON 4106 9137 4080 9137 4073 9114 4085 9111
          4106 9097

$$

50

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 9:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Linn	26 min
Apr 30, 10:18 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Jones	42 min
Apr 30, 1:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Scott	36 min
Apr 30, 1:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Scott	34 min
Apr 30, 1:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Lee	47 min
Apr 30, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Jefferson	43 min
Apr 30, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Louisa, Washington	51 min
Apr 30, 5:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Henry, Louisa	33 min
Apr 30, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Jefferson	29 min
Apr 30, 5:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Louisa	64 min
Apr 30, 6:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Louisa	29 min
Apr 30, 6:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Henry	35 min
Apr 30, 6:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Louisa	44 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.