Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 119, NWS Des Moines, IA

September 5, 2004Hamilton County, Wright County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Sep 5, 2004, 7:15 PM CDT for Hamilton County, Wright County, Iowa. It was in force for 30 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, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired
Sep 5, 2004, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Hamilton County, IA, Wright County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:18 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 5, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 254 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2004-09-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 93 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2004-09-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 417 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
93 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
724 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
417 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
457 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

074 
WFUS53 KDMX 060015
TORDMX
IAC079-197-060045-
/X.NEW.KDMX.TO.W.0009.040906T0015Z-040906T0045Z/

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN HAMILTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL IOWA.
  SOUTHEASTERN WRIGHT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA.

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT.

* AT 710 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WEBSTER CITY...OR 15 MILES EAST OF FORT
  DODGE...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF NORTHWESTERN
  HAMILTON AND SOUTHEASTERN WRIGHT COUNTIES...INCLUDING THE TOWNS OF
  WEBSTER CITY...WEBSTER CITY MUNICIPAL...WOOLSTOCK AND GALT.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO
NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

LAT...LON 4250 9395 4240 9388 4266 9350 4278 9366

$$

BOKSA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 5, 7:16 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMadison29 min
Sep 5, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXHardin, Story47 min
Sep 5, 7:39 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWarren36 min
Sep 5, 7:56 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXPolk49 min
Sep 5, 8:17 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXStory43 min
Sep 5, 8:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXLucas, Warren31 min
Sep 5, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXJasper, Polk27 min
Sep 5, 9:03 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMarshall, Story42 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.