Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 363

May 25, 200861 counties in Iowa

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 25, 2008, 3:30 PM CDT for 61 counties in Iowa. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 2008, 3:30 PM CDT (20:30 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 2008, 8:01 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Particularly dangerous situation
Yes
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
70 kt
All 61 counties

Adair County, IA, Adams County, IA, Appanoose County, IA, Audubon County, IA, Benton County, IA, Black Hawk County, IA, Boone County, IA, Bremer County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Butler County, IA, Calhoun County, IA, Carroll County, IA, Cass County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Clarke County, IA, Dallas County, IA, Davis County, IA, Decatur County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Franklin County, IA, Greene County, IA, Grundy County, IA, Guthrie County, IA, Hamilton County, IA, Hardin County, IA, Henry County, IA, Humboldt County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jasper County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Lee County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Lucas County, IA, Madison County, IA, Mahaska County, IA, Marion County, IA, Marshall County, IA, Monroe County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Pocahontas County, IA, Polk County, IA, Poweshiek County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Sac County, IA, Story County, IA, Tama County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Warren County, IA, Washington County, IA, Wayne County, IA, Webster County, IA, Wright County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:33 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
80%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
50%
Ten or more severe wind reports
70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
60%
Ten or more severe hail reports
70%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
50%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin, Wright52 min
May 25, 4:03 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXCerro Gordo, Franklin42 min
May 25, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXFranklin28 min
May 25, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXButler, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin43 min
May 25, 4:22 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXButler, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin23 min
May 25, 4:46 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXButler, Grundy44 min
May 25, 5:04 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Bremer56 min
May 25, 5:21 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Bremer24 min
May 25, 5:27 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXButler14 min
May 25, 5:37 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXBlack Hawk38 min
May 25, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXClarke, Decatur, Lucas43 min
May 25, 5:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNBuchanan57 min
May 25, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer26 min
May 25, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXClarke, Lucas48 min
May 25, 6:43 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNBuchanan, Delaware62 min
May 25, 6:54 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXLucas36 min
May 25, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBremer46 min
May 25, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDallas, Greene, Guthrie45 min
May 25, 7:16 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNDelaware, Dubuque59 min
May 25, 7:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAudubon26 min
May 25, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBuchanan, Delaware24 min
May 25, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBoone, Greene, Story52 min
May 25, 7:44 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXGuthrie46 min
May 25, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Bremer40 min
May 25, 7:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBuchanan, Delaware51 min
May 25, 7:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton, Hardin63 min

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 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 240 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 12:00Z on 2008-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2008-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 229 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
843 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 12:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Greene, Jersey, Madison, Monroe, Pike and 2 more67 min
May 25, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Clinton, Fayette and 11 more6 hr
May 25, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin and 13 more7 hr
May 25, 6:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and 11 more66 min
May 24, 9:01 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford and 16 more59 min
May 25, 12:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Butler, Calhoun and 27 more92 min
May 25, 2:04 PM CDTTornado Watch PDSSPCAllamakee, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clayton, Emmet, Fayette and 9 more6 hr
May 25, 5:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler and 21 more67 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.