Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Des Moines, IA

April 3, 2026Taylor County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 3, 2026, 4:31 PM CDT for Taylor County, Iowa. It was in force for 44 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: Apr 3, 2026, 4:31 PM CDT (21:31 UTC)
Expired: Apr 3, 2026, 5:15 PM CDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Des Moines, IA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Possible
Hail: 1.0 in
Wind: 50.0 mph

County Taylor County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:34 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
Apr 3, 2:20 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 209 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -402 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 515 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 601 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 659 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Apr 2, 6:37 PM CDT, 21 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 6:37 PM CDT, 21 hours 54 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 2, 4:38 PM CDT, 23 hours 53 minutes before

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        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Des Moines, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 3, 9:23 AM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Greene, Guthrie	37 min
Apr 3, 4:24 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	DMX	Carroll	36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2026 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2026

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.