Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 30, 2004Cedar County, Scott County, Iowa

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 30, 2004, 4:44 PM CDT for Cedar County, Scott County, Iowa. It was in force for 46 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 30, 2004, 4:44 PM CDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired: May 30, 2004, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Cedar County, IA, Scott County, IA

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 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 30, 12:25 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 253 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: 1629 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.4
Supercell composite: 8.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

383 
WFUS53 KDVN 302144
TORDVN
IAC031-163-302230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
444 PM CDT SUN MAY 30 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN CEDAR COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA
  NORTHWESTERN SCOTT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 437 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LIKELY TO PRODUCE A TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF
  BENNETT...OR ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TIPTON...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  5 MILES NORTHWEST OF DONAHUE BY 505 PM CDT

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IN A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM
OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A BUILDING.

ABANDON A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY FOR A MORE SUBSTANTIAL
SHELTER. IF NO SAFE SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...MOVE TO A DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

THIS STORM IS ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLF 
BALLS. 

LAT...LON 4168 9066 4163 9090 4162 9103 4173 9108
          4175 9096 4176 9078 4174 9069 4176 9057
          4171 9057

$$

33

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 5:22 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Jefferson	6 hr
May 30, 7:53 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Scott	6 hr
May 30, 2:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Lee	42 min
May 30, 2:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Lee	46 min
May 30, 2:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Des Moines	45 min
May 30, 2:47 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Lee	5 hr
May 30, 3:09 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Jefferson, Keokuk, Washington	5 hr
May 30, 3:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Benton, Buchanan, Linn	64 min
May 30, 3:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Johnson, Washington	58 min
May 30, 3:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Dubuque, Jones	49 min
May 30, 3:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Iowa, Johnson	53 min
May 30, 3:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Delaware	62 min
May 30, 4:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Cedar, Muscatine	42 min
May 30, 4:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Linn	63 min
May 30, 4:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Dubuque	57 min
May 30, 4:25 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	DVN	Buchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Linn	4 hr
May 30, 5:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Delaware	28 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.