Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 49, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 24, 2004Polk County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 2004, 5:19 PM CDT for Polk County, Iowa. It was in force for 56 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
May 24, 2004, 5:19 PM CDT (22:19 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 2004, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Polk County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 10 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:18 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
May 24, 2:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 230 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 2004-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 210 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
731 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
289 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.

000 
WFUS53 KDMX 242219
TORDMX
IAC153-242315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
519 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  POLK COUNTY IN CENTRAL IOWA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF DES MOINES

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 518 PM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WEST DES MOINES...OR ABOUT 14 MILES
  WEST OF DES MOINES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE...

  NEAR WEST DES MOINES AROUND 535 PM...
  NEAR WINDSOR HEIGHTS AROUND 540 PM...
  4 MILES NORTHWEST OF DES MOINES AROUND 545 PM...
  NEAR DES MOINES MORNINGSTAR AIRPORT AROUND 550 PM...
  3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SAYLORVILLE AROUND 555 PM AND
  NEAR ANKENY REGIONAL AIRPORT AROUND 600 PM.

AT 519 PM A WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A WALL CLOUD NEAR BOONVILLE 
AND INCH DIAMETER HAIL NEAR EARLHAM.

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 1000 PM MONDAY EVENING FOR
SOUTHWESTERN IOWA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000
PM MONDAY EVENING FOR IOWA.

LAT...LON 4174 9379 4151 9379 4151 9360 4163 9335
      4186 9354

$$

SMALL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac34 min
May 24, 2:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair, Cass, Guthrie41 min
May 24, 2:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford28 min
May 24, 2:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac11 min
May 24, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon32 min
May 24, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXSac45 min
May 24, 3:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAdair, Cass, Guthrie46 min
May 24, 3:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCrawford45 min
May 24, 3:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas41 min
May 24, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXCarroll39 min
May 24, 4:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPocahontas26 min
May 24, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHumboldt, Webster39 min
May 24, 4:13 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAdair32 min
May 24, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon48 min
May 24, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMadison45 min
May 24, 4:57 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXHumboldt4 hr
May 24, 5:02 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXDallas, Madison6 hr
May 24, 5:04 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDallas56 min
May 24, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton38 min
May 24, 5:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXAudubon, Carroll, Greene, Guthrie6 hr
May 24, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXGuthrie57 min
May 24, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMadison15 min
May 24, 5:31 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXBoone6 hr
May 24, 5:36 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWarren24 min
May 24, 5:39 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXPolk6 hr
May 24, 5:43 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMadison32 min
May 24, 5:59 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWarren46 min
May 24, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Polk28 min
May 24, 6:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor39 min
May 24, 6:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Story64 min
May 24, 6:26 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMadison49 min
May 24, 6:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXTaylor19 hr
May 24, 6:35 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXTaylor40 min
May 24, 6:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXMarion18 hr
May 24, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMarion49 min
May 24, 6:42 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXWarren18 hr
May 24, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXPolk46 min
May 24, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXWarren30 min
May 24, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXMonroe43 min
May 24, 6:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXDecatur, Ringgold18 hr
May 24, 6:52 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXRinggold38 min
May 24, 6:55 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDMXMahaska18 hr

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.