Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 103, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 26, 2004Sac County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Aug 26, 2004, 6:55 PM CDT for Sac County, Iowa. It was in force for 50 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 26, 2004, 6:55 PM CDT (23:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 26, 2004, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sac County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:58 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 26, 6:57 PM CDTHAIL 1.755 S Odebolt, IA
Aug 26, 7:17 PM CDTHAIL 0.883 S Lake View, IA

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 2004-08-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 67 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 2004-08-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
67 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-399 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1850 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 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.

000 
WFUS53 KDMX 262355
TORDMX
IAC161-270045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
654 PM CDT THU AUG 26 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SAC COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL IOWA.

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT.

* AT 650 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM WAS LOCATED 7 MILES SOUTH OF ODEBOLT...OR 60 MILES WEST OF
  FORT DODGE...AND MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF SOUTHERN SAC
  COUNTY...INCLUDING THE TOWNS OF WALL LAKE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT...WALL
  LAKE AND AUBURN.

THIS WARNING REPLACES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY IN 
EFFECT. 

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4233 9532 4221 9532 4222 9487 4234 9488

$$

DONAVON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHancock52 min
Aug 26, 3:57 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPocahontas48 min
Aug 26, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt53 min
Aug 26, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXWright41 min
Aug 26, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCerro Gordo, Hancock59 min
Aug 26, 4:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHumboldt42 min
Aug 26, 5:04 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWright41 min
Aug 26, 5:46 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWright29 min
Aug 26, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac53 min
Aug 26, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCrawford49 min
Aug 26, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGreene48 min
Aug 26, 6:52 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXTaylor53 min
Aug 26, 6:54 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGreene51 min
Aug 26, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon, Cass44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.