Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 60, NWS Des Moines, IA

May 24, 2004Mahaska County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 2004, 7:06 PM CDT for Mahaska County, Iowa. It was in force for 54 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, 7:06 PM CDT (00:06 UTC)
Expired: May 24, 2004, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mahaska County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:09 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
May 24, 2:35 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 307 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: 508 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

820 
WFUS53 KDMX 250006
TORDMX
IAC123-250100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MAHASKA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 704 PM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BEACON...OR ABOUT 27 MILES WEST OF
  OTTUMWA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE...

  NEAR BEACON AROUND 735 PM...
  NEAR OSKALOOSA AROUND 745 PM...
  8 MILES NORTHWEST OF OSKALOOSA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AROUND 750 PM...
  3 MILES NORTHWEST OF KEOMAH VILLAGE AROUND 755 PM AND
  4 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROSE HILL AROUND 800 PM.

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 4138 9287 4116 9287 4117 9243 4151 9243
      4151 9269

$$

SMALL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Jasper	57 min
May 24, 7:11 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Adair, Clarke, Lucas, Union, Wayne	18 hr
May 24, 7:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Warren	30 min
May 24, 7:16 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Jasper	18 hr
May 24, 7:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Decatur	67 min
May 24, 7:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Ringgold	33 min
May 24, 7:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Marion	47 min
May 24, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Decatur	60 min
May 24, 7:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Jasper	52 min
May 24, 7:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Appanoose	48 min
May 24, 7:47 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Poweshiek	18 hr
May 24, 7:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Wayne	67 min
May 24, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Lucas	47 min
May 24, 8:13 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Appanoose, Davis, Monroe, Wapello	18 hr
May 24, 8:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Mahaska	43 min
May 24, 8:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Appanoose, Monroe	57 min
May 24, 8:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Appanoose	23 min
May 24, 8:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DMX	Davis	49 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.