Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 116, NWS Des Moines, IA

September 5, 2004Union County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Sep 5, 2004, 6:46 PM CDT for Union County, Iowa. It was in force for 29 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: Sep 5, 2004, 6:46 PM CDT (23:46 UTC)
Expired: Sep 5, 2004, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Union County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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
Sep 5, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 182 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: 231 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1212 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 117 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

950 
WFUS53 KDMX 052346
TORDMX
IAC175-060015-
/X.NEW.KDMX.TO.W.0006.040905T2346Z-040906T0015Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
646 PM CDT SUN SEP 5 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN UNION COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA.

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT.

* AT 643 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM WAS LOCATED 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CRESTON...OR 52 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF NORTHERN UNION
  COUNTY...INCLUDING THE TOWNS OF AFTON AND LORIMOR.

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 4098 9439 4098 9404 4116 9403 4115 9429

$$

SMALL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 5, 3:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Crawford	43 min
Sep 5, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cass	34 min
Sep 5, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adair	43 min
Sep 5, 5:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Webster	35 min
Sep 5, 6:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Greene	26 min
Sep 5, 6:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Boone, Story	33 min
Sep 5, 6:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Greene, Webster	27 min
Sep 5, 6:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Madison	38 min
Sep 5, 6:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Hamilton, Webster	25 min
Sep 5, 6:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Story	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Iowa, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes 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.