Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 88, NWS Des Moines, IA

July 13, 2004Emmet County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 2004, 12:20 AM CDT for Emmet County, Iowa. It was in force for 40 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: Jul 13, 2004, 12:20 AM CDT (05:20 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 2004, 1:00 AM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Emmet County, IA

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 163 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:21 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
Jul 12, 9:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 189 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: 1267 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1215 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDMX 130520
TORDMX
IAC063-130600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
1220 AM CDT TUE JUL 13 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN EMMET COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 100 AM CDT

* AT 1217 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING TORNADOES 3 MILES WEST OF WALLINGFORD...OR ABOUT 19 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF SPENCER...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE...

  7 MILES SOUTH OF GRUVER AROUND 1225 AM CDT...
  NEAR RINGSTED AROUND 1240 AM CDT AND
  9 MILES SOUTH OF ARMSTRONG AROUND 1245 AM CDT.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM FOR 
NORTHERN EMMET COUNTY.

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 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 AM CDT
TUESDAY MORNING FOR WESTERN IOWA.

LAT...LON 4342 9491 4326 9491 4326 9448 4342 9448

$$

KULA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 12, 11:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Emmet, Palo Alto	40 min
Jul 13, 12:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Emmet	45 min
Jul 13, 12:37 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DMX	Emmet	3 hr
Jul 13, 2:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Kossuth	42 min
Jul 13, 5:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Adams	23 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.