Alert archive / Iowa / Tornado Watches in 2018

Tornado Watch 399

October 8, 201817 counties in Iowa; Atchison County, Doniphan County, Kansas; 16 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 8, 2018, 5:33 PM CDT for 17 counties in Iowa; Atchison County, Doniphan County, Kansas; 16 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 8, 2018, 5:33 PM CDT (22:33 UTC)
Expired
Oct 8, 2018, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 35 counties

Adair County, IA, Adams County, IA, Appanoose County, IA, Cass County, IA, Clarke County, IA, Decatur County, IA, Lucas County, IA, Madison County, IA, Mahaska County, IA, Marion County, IA, Monroe County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Warren County, IA, Wayne County, IA, Atchison County, KS, Doniphan County, KS, Andrew County, MO, Buchanan County, MO, Caldwell County, MO, Clinton County, MO, Daviess County, MO, DeKalb County, MO, Gentry County, MO, Grundy County, MO, Harrison County, MO, Holt County, MO, Livingston County, MO, Mercer County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Putnam County, MO, Sullivan County, MO, Worth County, MO

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 162 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:37 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 8, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXDaviess, Harrison29 min
Oct 8, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXPutnam24 min
Oct 8, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXAppanoose, Wayne46 min
Oct 8, 6:14 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXPutnam31 min
Oct 8, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur, Ringgold40 min
Oct 8, 6:36 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXAppanoose24 min
Oct 8, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXHarrison, Mercer45 min
Oct 8, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXDecatur, Ringgold43 min
Oct 8, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXHarrison, Mercer25 min
Oct 8, 7:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXDecatur, Wayne34 min
Oct 8, 7:23 PM CDTTornado WarningDMXClarke, Decatur37 min
Oct 8, 7:59 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedDMXClarke, Lucas, Warren31 min
Oct 8, 9:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXMahaska, Poweshiek21 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 234 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2018-10-08Temperature 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2018-10-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 97 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
457 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 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
Oct 8, 1:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Chase, Doniphan, Douglas, Geary and 12 more116 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2018Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2018Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2018Every tornado watch in 2018

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.