Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 122, NWS Des Moines, IA

September 5, 2004Warren County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Sep 5, 2004, 7:39 PM CDT for Warren County, Iowa. It was in force for 36 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, 7:39 PM CDT (00:39 UTC)
Expired: Sep 5, 2004, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Warren County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:39 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 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 225 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: 8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -124 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1414 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 38 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.

778 
WFUS53 KDMX 060039
TORDMX
IAC181-060115-
/X.NEW.KDMX.TO.W.0012.040906T0039Z-040906T0115Z/

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN WARREN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA.

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT.

* AT 735 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES EAST OF WINTERSET...OR 19 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF DES MOINES...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THIS POTENTIALLY TORNADIC STORM WILL BE...
  NEAR NORWALK BY 755 PM CDT.
  5 MILES NORTHWEST OF CARLISLE BY 805 PM CDT.

THE TOWNS OF BEVINGTON...MARTENSDALE...CUMMING AND SPRING HILL ARE
ALSO IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADIC STORM.

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 YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4131 9380 4131 9352 4151 9346 4151 9379

$$

SMALL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 5, 7:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Hamilton, Wright	30 min
Sep 5, 7:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Madison	29 min
Sep 5, 7:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Hardin, Story	47 min
Sep 5, 7:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Polk	49 min
Sep 5, 8:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Story	43 min
Sep 5, 8:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Lucas, Warren	31 min
Sep 5, 8:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Jasper, Polk	27 min
Sep 5, 9:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Marshall, Story	42 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.