Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2024
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 166, NWS Des Moines, IA
NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 17, 2024, 3:54 AM CDT for 4 counties in Iowa. It was in force for 51 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 17, 2024, 3:54 AM CDT (08:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 17, 2024, 4:45 AM CDT
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Des Moines, IA
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
- Hail
- 0.75 in
- Wind
- 60.0 mph
Counties Emmet County, IA, Kossuth County, IA, Palo Alto County, IA, Winnebago County, IA
The radar
The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 177 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:58 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.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 3:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 186 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2727 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -51 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1228 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 57 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.4
- Supercell composite
- 10.4
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 16, 11:49 PM CDT, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- Strong to severe storms with damaging winds, heavy rain and hail the primary threats. Locally heavy rainfall possible, but the highest amounts look to remain north of the state at this time.
- Continued above average temperatures with heat indices in the mid to upper 90s to start the week.
- Storm chances return Tuesday night with rain chances lingering through the remainder of the week. Storms Tuesday night could be strong to severe and produce heavy rain.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 11:49 PM CDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Des Moines IA 1149 PM CDT Sun Jun 16 2024 ...Updated for the 06z Aviation Discussion... .KEY MESSAGES... - Strong to severe storms with damaging winds, heavy rain and hail the primary threats. Locally heavy rainfall possible, but the highest amounts look to remain north of the state at this time. - Continued above average temperatures with heat indices in the mid to upper 90s to start the week. - Storm chances return Tuesday night with rain chances lingering through the remainder of the week. Storms Tuesday night could be strong to severe and produce heavy rain. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 247 PM CDT Sun Jun 16 2024 Earlier this morning, an MCV progressed across the south, bringing with it clouds and some precipitation in the southeast. Temperatures have since then mostly recovered, with far southeastern areas such as Ottumwa likely having highs limited into the 80s this afternoon. Visible satellite imagery has a front tailing from an area of low pressure located in western MN. This front extends down into northwest Iowa and further southwest into Nebraska and Kansas. Connected on the other end of the front is a developing surface low off the Rockies. This low will be pulled to the northeast, placing the connecting boundary near the IA-MN border. At this time, expecting CI to hold off until near or after sunset as the column cools. The limiting factor for daytime convection is 700mb temperatures nearing 12 degrees C. A 50kt+ LLJ will enhance moisture return in the northwest part of the state and assist in rain production towards the end of the night. With CAPE in excess of 2000 J/kg, storms could be strong to severe with damaging winds and hail. Better deep layer shear will be closer to the parent upper low, but the jet from the southwest will provide sufficient shear for organization in the lowest 3km. Given the noticeable moisture in the air, the more obvious concern would be heavy rain. The latest HREF suite keeps the H85 front, thus the highest amounts of precipitation, in southern Minnesota. Still, due to the aforementioned nocturnal jet, northwest Iowa could see rainfall amounts up to 1.5 inches from rain. The boundary will sag into Iowa Monday, but the environment looks capped at this time. Cooler air will be ushered in behind it and with the combination of lingering clouds, high temperatures in the north will be held into the 80s. Highs may underperform elsewhere for a couple of other factors: 1) The thermal ridge is being pulled further north, remaining more to the west of the area 2) Speaking to the noticeable amount of moisture in the atmosphere, the specific heat capacity of water is very high. Consequently, a moist airmass such as this will have a very difficult time pushing well into the 90s. The mugginess will not help the comfortability factor, however. Winds on Monday will be breezy, especially beneath the enhanced flow over the west. Soundings have mean ML winds exceeding 30kts in the afternoon there in the late afternoon hours. Southwest flow will push the boundary back into Minnesota Monday afternoon and keep Monday night dry, but also mild, with lows once again in the 70s. Temperatures will have the same struggles as Monday. Breezy conditions coat more of the state. PWAT values pushing 2 inches will build into the state Tuesday as the constrained low driving the muggy pattern finally is allowed to move east. Its trailing cold front will move across the state Tuesday evening and overnight, giving the state another chance at severe weather and heavy rain. In the long term, the upper level ridge will build into the region more, stalling the aforementioned boundary somewhere nearby and shoving back northwest. As it retreats, Iowa will be back in the warm sector at some point near the end of the work week. As long as this boundary remains somewhere nearby, rain will be in the forecast for parts of the state, especially the north. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/... Issued at 1149 PM CDT Sun Jun 16 2024 Thunderstorms will move across South Dakota and Minnesota overnight but remain largely north of Iowa. Toward Monday morning, however, some storms may bleed into northern Iowa and impact MCW at times with MVFR ceilings/visibilities, so have included a mention there. Otherwise, VFR conditions will prevail through the TAF period and beyond. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...None. && DISCUSSION...Jimenez AVIATION...Lee
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jun 17, 3:33 AM CDT, 21 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, Jun 17, 3:48 AM CDT, 6 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17, 3:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Emmet, Kossuth | 48 min |
| Jun 17, 4:53 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Winnebago, Worth | 52 min |
| Jun 17, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DMX | Emmet, Palo Alto | 24 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2024Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2024
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.