Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 326, NWS Des Moines, IA

August 18, 2026Palo Alto County, Iowa

NWS Des Moines, IA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 2026, 7:53 PM CDT for Palo Alto County, Iowa. It was in force for 17 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
Aug 18, 2026, 7:53 PM CDT (00:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2026, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
17 min
Issued by
NWS Des Moines, IA
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
1.0 in
Wind
60.0 mph

County Palo Alto County, IA

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 169 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:55 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 18, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC114 min

The nearest sounding before it

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 360 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2026-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 487 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2026-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
487 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1323 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXEmmet, Palo Alto40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 2026Every 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.