Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 214

May 17, 200412 counties in Illinois; 23 counties in Iowa; 16 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 17, 2004, 7:15 PM CDT for 12 counties in Illinois; 23 counties in Iowa; 16 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2004, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 2004, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 51 counties

Benton County, IA, Black Hawk County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Davis County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Henry County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Washington County, IA, Boone County, IL, Carroll County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Lee County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Calumet County, WI, Columbia County, WI, Dane County, WI, Dodge County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Green Lake County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Washington County, WI, Waukesha County, WI

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:17 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXIowa, Sauk66 min
May 17, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLinn32 min
May 17, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson20 min
May 17, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton, Jackson61 min
May 17, 8:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDane65 min
May 17, 8:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar42 min
May 17, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNMuscatine44 min
May 17, 8:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXJefferson55 min
May 17, 8:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXRock49 min
May 17, 9:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNScott13 min
May 17, 9:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNRock Island39 min
May 17, 9:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNLinn6 hr
May 17, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBoone, Winnebago48 min
May 17, 11:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLOTLake, McHenry6 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 85 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2004-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1036 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 2004-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1036 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1284 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 11:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane and 8 more23 min
May 18, 12:41 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGrundy, Kankakee, Will2 hr
May 18, 10:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign and 38 more3 hr
May 18, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign and 48 more7 hr
May 18, 2:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 23 more2 hr
May 18, 6:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles and 27 more96 min
May 17, 8:20 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Appanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Iowa and 17 more55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Iowa, 2004Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wisconsin, 2004Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Illinois, 2004Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.