Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 332

May 30, 200414 counties in Illinois; 43 counties in Iowa; 5 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 30, 2004, 12:25 PM CDT for 14 counties in Illinois; 43 counties in Iowa; 5 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 2004, 12:25 PM CDT (17:25 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 2004, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 62 counties

Allamakee County, IA, Benton County, IA, Black Hawk County, IA, Bremer County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Butler County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Cerro Gordo County, IA, Chickasaw County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Davis County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Fayette County, IA, Floyd County, IA, Franklin County, IA, Grundy County, IA, Hardin County, IA, Henry County, IA, Howard County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Lee County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Mahaska County, IA, Marshall County, IA, Mitchell County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Poweshiek County, IA, Scott County, IA, Tama County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Washington County, IA, Winneshiek County, IA, Worth County, IA, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, Henderson County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Knox County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stark County, IL, Warren County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Crawford County, WI, Grant County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Richland County, WI

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:25 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 2:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose, Davis, Wapello41 min
May 30, 2:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNLee42 min
May 30, 2:29 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNLee46 min
May 30, 2:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNHenderson45 min
May 30, 2:47 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNLee5 hr
May 30, 3:09 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNJefferson, Keokuk, Washington5 hr
May 30, 3:11 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNHancock, McDonough, Warren49 min
May 30, 3:26 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNBenton, Buchanan, Linn64 min
May 30, 3:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson, Washington58 min
May 30, 3:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXClayton4 hr
May 30, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNDubuque, Jones49 min
May 30, 3:45 PM CDTTornado WarningILXFulton, Knox60 min
May 30, 3:52 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNIowa, Johnson53 min
May 30, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHenry48 min
May 30, 3:58 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNDelaware62 min
May 30, 4:03 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNMcDonough, Warren27 min
May 30, 4:03 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNCedar, Muscatine42 min
May 30, 4:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNBuchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Linn63 min
May 30, 4:18 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNDubuque57 min
May 30, 4:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXKnox6 hr
May 30, 4:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNBuchanan, Delaware, Dubuque, Jones, Linn4 hr
May 30, 4:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXPeoria, Stark62 min
May 30, 4:29 PM CDTTornado WarningILXPeoria, Stark61 min
May 30, 4:36 PM CDTTornado WarningILXTazewell, Woodford54 min
May 30, 4:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXPeoria, Stark6 hr
May 30, 4:43 PM CDTTornado WarningILXFulton, Knox62 min
May 30, 4:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNCedar, Scott46 min
May 30, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Putnam57 min
May 30, 4:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNBureau, Henry, Putnam54 min
May 30, 4:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNBureau, Henry, Putnam3 hr
May 30, 4:54 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNBureau, Whiteside51 min
May 30, 5:10 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMarshall65 min
May 30, 5:19 PM CDTTornado WarningILXWoodford56 min
May 30, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDelaware28 min
May 30, 5:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXMarshall, Woodford6 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

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 319 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1629 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 201 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 301729
SEL2  
SPC WW 301725
IAZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-310000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 332
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1225 PM CDT SUN MAY 30 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       CENTRAL AND EASTERN IOWA
       NORTHWEST ILLINOIS
       SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1225 PM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...

DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF WATERLOO IOWA TO 20
MILES SOUTHEAST OF BURLINGTON IOWA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 329...WW 330...WW 331...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THE NEXT HOUR OR SO
IN LOW LEVEL CONFLUENCE ZONE AHEAD OF DEVELOPING NRN MO SURFACE
WAVE. SURFACE HEATING COUPLED WITH FAVORABLY TIMED WITH
STRENGTHENING LARGE SCALE ASCENT SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR A STRONG
TORNADO OR TWO IN ADDITION TO HAIL...ESPECIALLY IN SE IA.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 55 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22025.


...CORFIDI

432,0900 403,0890 403,0923 432,0934

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 7:40 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Brown, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles and 31 more5 hr
May 30, 9:40 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Hancock and 6 more3 hr
May 30, 10:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Clay, Clinton, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin and 19 more2 hr
May 30, 10:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Brown, Hancock, McDonough, Pike8 hr
May 30, 11:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChampaign, Cook, DeWitt, Douglas, DuPage, Iroquois and 4 more116 min
May 30, 11:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCClark, Crawford, Edgar, Edwards, Gallatin, Hardin and 7 more7 hr
May 30, 12:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Knox and 4 more2 hr
May 30, 12:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Fulton and 13 more2 hr
May 30, 1:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Bond, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign, Christian and 45 more6 hr
May 30, 3:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, Cass, DeKalb, DuPage and 29 more119 min
May 30, 4:25 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBoone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Iroquois and 12 more6 hr
May 30, 5:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Bond, Clinton, Fayette, Jackson, Madison and 7 more95 min
May 30, 5:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian and 39 more54 min
May 30, 6:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Bond, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay and 41 more6 hr
May 30, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCGallatin, Hardin, Lawrence, Wabash8 hr
May 29, 8:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford and 15 more60 min
May 29, 9:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuena Vista, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet and 13 more54 min
May 29, 9:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 26 more6 hr
May 29, 11:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford and 13 more67 min
May 30, 2:38 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Jasper, Keokuk and 13 more97 min
May 30, 2:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuffalo, Dunn, La Crosse, Pepin, Pierce, Saint Croix and 2 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2004Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2004Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2004Every tornado 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.