Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 160, NWS Omaha, NE

June 24, 2003Mills County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 24, 2003, 4:14 PM CDT for Mills County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 24, 2003, 4:14 PM CDT (21:14 UTC)
Expired
Jun 24, 2003, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mills County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:14 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 nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 226 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2003-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2592 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2003-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
2592 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
731 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Omaha, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 24, 3:33 PM CDT, 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 24, 3:33 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
333 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 2003

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING ARE AGAIN THE MAIN FORECAST ISSUES.

A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS COVERS THE ENTIRE AREA WITH MORNING
BOUNDARIES FORCED NORTH INTO SD.  18Z SOUNDING HAD EXTREME LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WEAKLY CAPPED BY MID LEVEL DRY LAYER...BUT CAP IS NOW
BROKEN IN SE NEBRASKA.  WITH A LACK OF LOW LEVEL BOUNDARIES FOR
FOCUS...AND ONLY MODEST LOW LEVEL SHEAR...IMMEDIATE SEVERE POTENTIAL
WILL LIKELY BE PULSE TYPE STORMS.  CONVECTION LIKELY MUCH MORE
ORGANIZED IN TOR WATCH AREA OF NORTHEAST NEBRASKA...WHERE OUTFLOW/
FRONTAL BOUNDARIES ARE LIKELY TO SET UP. STRONG LOW LEVEL JET RIDING
OVER ANY BOUNDARY WILL ALSO SET UP FLOOD POTENTIAL IN ADDITION TO
ONGOING FLOODING IN KNOX COUNTY.  FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
TONIGHT.

12Z MESOETA HAD A REASONABLE IDEA FOR OVERALL PROGRESS OF COLD FRONT
ON WED.  THIS WOULD LEAVE THE CHC OF MORE SEVERE WEATHER IN THE
SOUTHEAST PART OF THE AREA IN THE AFTERNOON...BUT MAINLY SOME
LEFTOVER SHOWERS AND TSTMS IN THE NORTHWEST...ALONG WITH MUCH COOLER
TEMPS.  RAIN SHOULD END EARLY WED NIGHT FOLLOWED BY CLEARING AND
COOLER ALL AREAS.

FEW CHANGES TO LATER PERIODS OF THE FORECAST.  PUT IN A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF TSTMS AS THE NEXT FRONT COMES THROUGH SAT INTO SAT NIGHT.

.OMA...FLOOD WATCH THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT  KNOX...CEDAR...WAYNE...
       PIERCE...AND ANTELOPE COUNTIES

POLLACK
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 24, 12:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 14 minutes before
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-
042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-242330-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1200 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF EASTERN NEBRASKA
AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS ALL OF EASTERN NEBRASKA
AND SOUTHWEST IOWA THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT.  LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE ATMOSPHERE IS EXPECTED TO BECOME VERY UNSTABLE AS MOIST AIR
ALREADY IN PLACE OVER THE AREA HEATS UP THIS AFTERNOON.  WIND
SHEAR WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELL STORMS TO DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS OVER MUCH OF THE
OUTLOOK AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY AS A
COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.
SOME STORMS COULD BE SEVERE...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS.	CURRENTLY IT APPEARS THE MAIN THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER
ON WEDNESDAY WILL GENERALLY BE SOUTH OF A LINE FROM BEATRICE TO
ONAWA IOWA.

STORM SPOTTERS WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT.

GRIFFIS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 24, 10:32 AM CDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 8:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXAntelope, Knox, Pierce22 min
Jun 23, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXKnox44 min
Jun 23, 8:49 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXAntelope26 min
Jun 23, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCedar45 min
Jun 23, 9:09 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXCedar51 min
Jun 23, 9:14 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXAntelope, Knox31 min
Jun 23, 9:36 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXAntelope24 min
Jun 23, 9:45 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXKnox30 min
Jun 23, 10:15 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXCedar30 min
Jun 23, 10:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPlatte64 min
Jun 23, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCedar30 min
Jun 23, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPlatte59 min
Jun 23, 11:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXWayne26 min
Jun 23, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXKnox38 min
Jun 23, 11:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOAXKnox6 hr
Jun 24, 12:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXKnox60 min
Jun 24, 12:04 AM CDTTornado WarningOAXCedar41 min
Jun 24, 12:05 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningOAXCedar6 hr
Jun 24, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCedar38 min
Jun 24, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCedar31 min
Jun 24, 6:09 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXCedar36 min
Jun 24, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMills34 min
Jun 24, 5:07 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXMills23 min
Jun 24, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPottawattamie48 min
Jun 24, 5:48 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXPottawattamie27 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2003Every 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.