Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 27, 2004Adams County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this flash flood warning at May 27, 2004, 12:38 PM CDT for Adams County, Iowa. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 2004, 12:38 PM CDT (17:38 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 2004, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
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), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:40 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 139 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 97 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -37 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-239 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
906 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 
WGUS53 KDMX 271738
FFWDMX
IAC003-272045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1238 PM CDT THU MAY 27 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  ADAMS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 345 PM

* AT 1235 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  THUNDERSTORMS WITH FLASH FLOOD PRODUCING RAINS IN THE WARNING AREA.

* THE GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED BY RAINFALL...AND ADDITIONAL RAIN
  WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT RUNOFF INTO SWOLLEN WATERWAYS.            
  THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL RATES 1 TO 2        
  INCHES PER HOUR. THIS WILL PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING ALONG            
  TRIBUTARIES AND SMALL CREEKS ALONG THE NODAWAY AND ONE HUNDRED AND 
  TWO RIVER.

OTHER WARNING LOCATIONS INCLUDE...
CARBON...CORNING...CORNING MUNICIPAL AIRPORT...NODAWAY AND PRESCOTT

FLASH FLOODS OCCUR QUICKLY...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. AVOID WATER
COVERED ROADS...THE ROAD MAY BE WASHED OUT. LESS THAN ONE FOOT OF
FAST FLOWING WATER CAN SWEEP AN AUTOMOBILE OFF THE ROAD.

LAT...LON 4113 9492 4092 9492 4092 9450 4114 9450

$$

KULA
3 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS73 KDMX 271811
FFSDMX
IAC003-272045-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
109 PM CDT THU MAY 27 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL 345 PM...

AT 109 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY 
RAIN EXITING SOUTHEAST ADAMS COUNTY...8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF 
PRESCOTT...OR ABOUT 66 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES...MOVING EAST 
AT 35 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL BE...
  IN RURAL AREAS OF
  SOUTHEASTERN ADAMS COUNTY.

THE GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED BY RAINFALL IN THE WARNING AREA. 
SIGNIFICANT RUNOFF HAS OCCURRED INTO SWOLLEN WATERWAYS. THIS WILL 
PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN ADAMS COUNTY ON SMALL 
CREEKS.  FLOOD PRONE GRAVEL ROADS WILL BECOME COVERED BY RUNNING 
WATER SOON IF NOT ALREADY.

FLASH FLOODS OCCUR QUICKLY...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. AVOID WATER
COVERED ROADS...THE ROAD MAY BE WASHED OUT. LESS THAN ONE FOOT OF
FAST FLOWING WATER CAN SWEEP AN AUTOMOBILE OFF THE ROAD.

LAT...LON 4113 9493 4094 9492 4093 9450 4114 9450

$$

KULA
000 
WGUS73 KDMX 271937
FFSDMX
IAC003-272045-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
236 PM CDT THU MAY 27 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL 345 PM...

NO FURTHER RAINFALL IS ANTICIPATED AS STORMS HAVE MOVED TO THE 
SOUTHEAST OF THE WARNED AREA.  HOWEVER...RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAIN HAVE 
LIKELY PRODUCED FLOODING OF LOW LYING GRAVEL ROADS...OR HAVE MADE 
GRAVEL ROADS OVER SATURATED AND IMPASSIBLE.  

THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL LIKELY BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 345 PM.

FLASH FLOODS OCCUR QUICKLY...MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. AVOID WATER 
COVERED ROADS...THE ROAD MAY BE WASHED OUT. LESS THAN ONE FOOT OF 
FAST FLOWING WATER CAN SWEEP AN AUTOMOBILE OFF THE ROAD.

LAT...LON 4115 9493 4092 9492 4091 9451 4115 9449

$$

KULA
000 
WGUS73 KDMX 272040
FFSDMX
IAC003-272100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
339 PM CDT THU MAY 27 2004

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL
345 PM WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE...

THE STORMS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE WARNED AREA...AND NO REPORTS OF 
FLASH FLOODING HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.  THUS THE WARNING HAS BEEN 
ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.


LAT...LON 4115 9489 4092 9492 4092 9454 4114 9453

$$

KULA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 11:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXRinggold42 min
May 27, 11:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor38 min
May 27, 11:20 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXRinggold, Taylor3 hr
May 27, 11:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur52 min
May 27, 11:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXDecatur3 hr
May 27, 11:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXRinggold45 min
May 27, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne45 min
May 27, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur45 min
May 27, 12:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAppanoose, Wayne49 min
May 27, 1:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWayne44 min
May 27, 1:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor40 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2004Every flash flood warning in 2004

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.