Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 17, 2004Marion County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 2004, 8:41 PM CDT for Marion County, Iowa. It was in force for 34 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: May 17, 2004, 8:41 PM CDT (01:41 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2004, 9:15 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marion County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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
May 17, 4:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 217 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: 1036 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1284 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

342 
WUUS53 KDMX 180141
SVRDMX
IAC125-180215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
842 PM CDT MON MAY 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN MARION COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 915 PM CDT

* AT 837 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER KNOXVILLE...OR ABOUT 33 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  DES MOINES...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...

  NEAR HARVEY AROUND 850 PM AND
  5 MILES NORTH OF BUSSEY AROUND 855 PM.

HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS IS LIKELY IN THE WARNED AREA.

VERY STRONG WINDS UP TO 60 MPH ARE LIKELY IN THE WARNED AREA.

MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU LIVE IN A
MOBILE HOME...SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM MONDAY
EVENING FOR SOUTHWESTERN IOWA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO
REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT TUESDAY MORNING FOR EASTERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4121 9313 4122 9320 4129 9315 4138 9310
          4134 9288 4116 9288 4116 9299

$$

KINNEY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 7:45 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Emmet, Madison, Palo Alto, Warren	121 days
May 17, 7:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Warren	43 min
May 17, 9:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Mahaska	41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2004 Every severe thunderstorm 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.