Alert archive / Iowa / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Sioux Falls, SD

July 13, 2004O'Brien County, Iowa

NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued this flash flood warning at Jul 13, 2004, 1:17 AM CDT for O'Brien County, Iowa. It was in force for 88 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, 1:17 AM CDT (06:17 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 2004, 2:45 AM CDT
In force: 88 min
Issued by: NWS Sioux Falls, SD
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County O'Brien County, IA

The radar

The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:21 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 nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 206 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: 4686 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1125 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 194 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.2
Supercell composite: 20.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS53 KFSD 130618
FFWFSD
IAC141-130745-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
117 AM CDT TUE JUL 13 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  OBRIEN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST IOWA

* UNTIL 245 AM CDT

* AT 106 AM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE OCCURRING 
ACROSS MUCH OF OBRIEN COUNTY. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES RAINFALL OF 
ONE TO TWO INCHES HAD FALLEN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE 
COUNTY. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST 
ACROSS THE COUNTY THROUGH 230 AM CDT.  

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. MOVE
UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS
SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE.

LAT...LON 4318 9571 4299 9576 4297 9546 4314 9553

$$
JS

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS73 KFSD 130714
FFSFSD
IAC141-130745-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD
214 AM CDT TUE JUL 13 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 245 AM CDT FOR OBRIEN
COUNTY...

AT 205 AM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE ACROSS 
THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY. BETWEEN 1 AND 2 AM SHELDON RECEIVED 
1.25 INCHES OF RAIN. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES RAINFALL IN EXCESS OF 
THREE INCHES ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF OBRIEN COUNTY. HEAVIER 
RAINS SHOULD MOVE SOUTH AND EAST OF THE COUNTY BY 245 AM CDT.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE
BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

LAT...LON 4318 9571 4299 9576 4297 9546 4314 9553

$$

JS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Sioux Falls, SD issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 12, 11:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	31 min
Jul 12, 11:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Plymouth	28 min
Jul 12, 11:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cherokee, Plymouth	31 min
Jul 13, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	29 min
Jul 13, 12:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Sioux	22 min
Jul 13, 12:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lyon	37 min
Jul 13, 12:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	48 min
Jul 13, 12:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cherokee	35 min
Jul 13, 12:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Lyon	44 min
Jul 13, 12:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Buena Vista, Clay	62 min
Jul 13, 1:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Sioux	41 min
Jul 13, 1:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Osceola	25 min
Jul 13, 1:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	62 min
Jul 13, 1:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Sioux	30 min
Jul 13, 1:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Cherokee	39 min
Jul 13, 1:58 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Buena Vista, Clay	47 min
Jul 13, 2:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	O'Brien	44 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Iowa, 2004 Every flash flood warning 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.