Tornado Watch 323

Issued

May 22, 2011, 12:51 PM CDT (17:51 UTC)

Expired

May 22, 2011, 10:38 PM CDT

In force

10 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

3 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:53 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.

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

50%

Ten or more severe hail reports

90%

One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more

80%

Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports

95%

• Mesoscale Discussion 849May 22, 10:53 AM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 855May 22, 1:49 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 858May 22, 2:59 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 862May 22, 3:48 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 863May 22, 4:16 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 866May 22, 5:47 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 867May 22, 6:10 PM CDT
• Mesoscale Discussion 874May 22, 7:52 PM CDT

483 
WWUS20 KWNS 221754
SEL3
SPC WW 221754
IAZ000-ILZ000-KSZ000-MOZ000-230200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 323
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1255 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2011

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

       EASTERN IOWA
       WESTERN ILLINOIS
       EAST-CENTRAL KANSAS
       NORTHERN MISSOURI

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1255 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 90 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
DUBUQUE IOWA TO 25 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF COLUMBIA MISSOURI.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 321...WW 322...

DISCUSSION...TSTMS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING ALONG PRIMARY
COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM N-CNTRL IA TO E-CNTRL KS AS WELL AS ALONG
GRAVITY WAVE-INDUCED SURFACE CONVERGENCE BOUNDARY FROM CNTRL IL INTO
E-CNTRL MO.  AMBIENT WARM SECTOR AIR MASS IS QUITE MOIST AND
MODERATELY TO STRONGLY UNSTABLE WITH MLCAPE VALUES OF 2000-3500
J/KG.  WHEN COUPLED WITH 40-50 KT OF DEEP-LAYER SHEAR AND MODERATELY
STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR...THE POTENTIAL WILL EXIST FOR SUPERCELLS
CAPABLE OF DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AND TORNADOES...SOME POSSIBLY STRONG.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
600. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.


...MEAD

Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2011Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2011Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011

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.