Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 461

August 24, 20215 counties in Illinois; 42 counties in Iowa; Grant County, Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 24, 2021, 1:52 PM CDT for 5 counties in Illinois; 42 counties in Iowa; Grant County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 24, 2021, 1:52 PM CDT (18:52 UTC)
Expired
Aug 24, 2021, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 48 counties

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, Cedar County, IA, Chickasaw County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Crawford County, IA, Dallas County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Fayette County, IA, Franklin County, IA, Greene County, IA, Grundy County, IA, Guthrie County, IA, Hamilton County, IA, Hardin County, IA, Humboldt County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jasper County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Linn County, IA, Marshall County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Pocahontas County, IA, Polk County, IA, Poweshiek County, IA, Sac County, IA, Scott County, IA, Story County, IA, Tama County, IA, Webster County, IA, Wright County, IA, Carroll County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Grant County, WI

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:53 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.

What SPC expected

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

Two or more tornadoes
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 1:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Bremer67 min
Aug 24, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXChickasaw, Fayette60 min
Aug 24, 2:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBuchanan39 min
Aug 24, 2:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatDVNBenton, Buchanan, Delaware, Jones, Linn56 min
Aug 24, 2:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClayton, Fayette61 min
Aug 24, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threatDVNBuchanan, Delaware, Dubuque42 min
Aug 24, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXHamilton, Hardin, Marshall, Story47 min
Aug 24, 3:35 PM CDTTornado WarningARXGrant40 min
Aug 24, 3:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNDubuque25 min
Aug 24, 3:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Destructive damage threatDVNJo Daviess48 min
Aug 24, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXBlack Hawk, Grundy, Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek, Tama57 min
Aug 24, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXGrant36 min
Aug 24, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatDVNJo Daviess, Stephenson58 min
Aug 24, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCarroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson59 min
Aug 24, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBenton, Iowa40 min
Aug 24, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCarroll, Henry, Rock Island, Whiteside37 min
Aug 24, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Henry, Mercer, Rock Island, Whiteside44 min
Aug 24, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Johnson, Linn38 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 226 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 2021-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1809 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2021-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 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
1809 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-127 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1284 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

287 
WWUS20 KWNS 241849
SEL1  
SPC WW 241849
IAZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-250000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 461
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
150 PM CDT Tue Aug 24 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  northern Iowa
  northwestern Illinois
  southwestern Wisconsin

* Effective this Tuesday afternoon and evening from 150 PM until
  700 PM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  Scattered large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible

SUMMARY...One or two clusters of thunderstorms may continue to
evolve and organize through late afternoon, posing a risk for severe
hail and damaging wind gusts as they spread east-southeastward
across the region.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 55
statute miles north and south of a line from 35 miles west of Fort
Dodge IA to 40 miles east southeast of Dubuque IA. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
28035.

...Kerr

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 6:00 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJo Daviess90 min
Aug 24, 3:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Winnebago66 min
Aug 24, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBoone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake and 4 more5 hr
Aug 24, 5:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane and 7 more2 hr
Aug 24, 12:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllamakee, Bremer, Butler, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette and 4 more91 min
Aug 24, 2:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCPierce, Polk, Saint Croix7 hr
Aug 24, 3:00 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCPierce, Polk, Saint Croix2 hr
Aug 24, 7:10 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Barron, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn and 15 more95 min
Aug 24, 9:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Calumet, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano and 3 more62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Iowa, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Illinois, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wisconsin, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.