Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 17, 2004Worth County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 2004, 11:01 PM CDT for Worth 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: Apr 17, 2004, 11:01 PM CDT (04:01 UTC)
Expired: Apr 17, 2004, 11:30 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Worth County, IA

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 159 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:04 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
Apr 17, 7:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr
Apr 17, 10:05 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 159 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2026 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 489 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.

949 
WFUS53 KDMX 180401
TORDMX
IAC195-180430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1101 PM CDT SAT APR 17 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN WORTH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT

* AT 1055 PM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 5 MILES EAST OF NORTHWOOD MUNICIPAL AIRPORT...OR ABOUT 21
  MILES NORTH OF MASON CITY...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

THIS IS A HAZARDOUS SITUATION. SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT...OR IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OR IN A
CAR...SEEK SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 AM SUNDAY MORNING FOR
NORTHERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4350 9350 4336 9349 4332 9303 4349 9305

BOKSA

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 7:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Kossuth, Winnebago	44 min
Apr 17, 8:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Winnebago	28 min
Apr 17, 8:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Worth	38 min
Apr 17, 9:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo	34 min
Apr 17, 9:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Worth	31 min
Apr 17, 9:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Pocahontas	14 min
Apr 17, 9:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Cerro Gordo, Worth	38 min
Apr 17, 9:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Kossuth, Palo Alto	32 min
Apr 17, 9:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Pocahontas	29 min
Apr 17, 10:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Worth	47 min
Apr 17, 10:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Winnebago	65 min
Apr 17, 10:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Kossuth	44 min
Apr 17, 10:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Worth	27 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.