During the afternoon of May 9th, multiple sources reported a landspout tornado associated with a weak thunderstorm south of Charles City, IA. No damage was reported with this landspout tornado.
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The episode as NWS ARX wrote it up.
During the afternoon of May 9th, multiple sources reported a landspout tornado associated with a weak thunderstorm south of Charles City, IA. No damage was reported with this landspout tornado.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 9, 5:59 AM CST, 6 hours 4 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service La Crosse WI 659 AM CDT Thu May 9 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Rainfall amounts just over an inch have been received in northeast Iowa and rain showers will continue today there into southwest WI. Additional rainfall amounts around 0.25" are expected today. Showers diminish early this evening. - Some frost looks possible (~30% chance) Friday morning in central and northcentral WI. - Showers and storms track southeast across the area Friday afternoon/evening. Rain chances have been increased areawide with a slightly more western track too. Severe storms not expected. - Periodic lower rain chances (20-40%) from the Sunday into next week. Temperatures will be 5 to 10 degrees above the seasonable normals Sunday-Tuesday. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 317 AM CDT Thu May 9 2024 Additional Rainfall Today Across Northeast IA and Southwest WI At 3 am, radar indicated rain over northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin associated with a deformation band and two shortwave troughs within the broader long wave. Rainfall amounts have been around an inch thus far in the Charles City and New Hampton areas with lesser amounts /0.25 to 0.75/ for the remainder of northeast IA, less than 0.25" in southwest WI. Occasional lightning has been observed along the highway 3 corridor and south in Iowa. The two longwave trough elements over the central U.S /Great Lakes and Neb/SD/ will phase today as upstream ridging over Canada drives the pattern to evolve southeast. This will take the lingering deformation rain band and slowly shift it southeast with increased weak lift renewed this afternoon ahead of the Great Lakes low heading south through WI. 09.06Z RAP indicates a moderate signal of potential vorticity advection in the 300-500MB layer with this sw->ne oriented trough heading south through WI this afternoon aiding in popping off some showers in weak instability. This exists southeast this evening finally ending the rain chances and skies will clear. Frost Possible Friday Morning in Parts of Wisconsin With clearing skies tonight and winds going light with surface ridging building in, frost is looking possible near and north of the Highway 29 corridor in northcentral WI - 10% increasing to 60% on Taylor county northern border. Some patchy frost may also be found further south to the I-94 corridor in WI (15-40% chances). Frost Advisories may be issued later today for this possibility once the area is better defined. Friday and Friday Night Showers and Storms Signals continue to be consistent and impressive with model guidance forecasting a vigorous northwest flow shortwave trough to move through the area later on Friday and Friday evening. Impressive 300-500mb potential vorticity advection, excellent exit region jet dynamical divergence /curvature term is outstanding!/, steepening mid-level lapse rates, and modest low- level theta-e convergence in the 850-925 mb layer all in play Friday later afternoon for organized lift. Trends suggest a noticeable western outlier track through MN in the latest RAP runs /08.21Z and 09.03Z/. Probabilities in the 09.00Z HREF confirm a modest westward shift with 70%+ probabilities of measurable rain northeast of a Rochester MN to Prairie Du Chien WI line by Friday at 7 pm. Thus, have pulled the rain chances southwestward and also increased them for this system much above the NBM guidance. Current rain window is Friday 4-10 pm across the area. Should be a fairly quick hitter with clearing by Saturday morning. Severe storm chances: The wind shear field increases impressively across the area south of the mid-level low /southwest of I-94/ but the big limiting factor is CAPE. With dewpoints in the lower 40s, MLCAPE/SBCAPES are in the low 100s J/Kg. Even so, the 09.00Z HREF CAMS show a 70% chance of 40dBZ or higher Friday afternoon along the Miss river. So, weak instability and strong dynamical lift are probably enough for pea-penny sized hail and gusts to 35 mph with this system as it is coming through at peak heating. Sunday through Thursday: Warmer with Low Shower Chances (20-40%) Weak ridging aloft with increasing southerly flow and moisture returning Sunday will bring an airmass into play that could pop some showers. Overall, no weather system looks particularly strong until possibly mid-week. So, this weak forcing with mild temperatures and low shower chances defines the period. A bit swifter near-zonal flow looks in play for mid-week and beyond but confidence is quite low for any details with abundant spread in the forecast pattern suggested. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 631 AM CDT Thu May 9 2024 Mostly VFR conditions seen across the Upper Mississippi River Valley early this morning during 09.12Z TAF issuance. Precipitation impacts primarily impact locally southern counties from northeast Iowa into southwest Wisconsin. Confidence decreases on northern edge of this precipitation, along am east-west line between both TAF sites (KLSE/KRST). Any thunder chances will be limited, higher confidence along southern periphery. Regardless, low level moisture expected to introduce lower MVFR ceilings from south to north, affecting both TAF sites later this morning potentially. Lasting most of the day. && .ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WI...None. MN...None. IA...None. && DISCUSSION...Baumgardt AVIATION...JAR
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service La Crosse WI 400 AM CDT Thu May 9 2024 IAZ008>011-018-019-029-030-MNZ086-087-094>096-WIZ053>055-061- 101200- Mitchell-Howard-Winneshiek-Allamakee-Floyd-Chickasaw-Fayette- Clayton-Dodge-Olmsted-Mower-Fillmore-Houston-Vernon-Crawford- Richland-Grant- 400 AM CDT Thu May 9 2024 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of north central Iowa...northeast Iowa...southeast Minnesota and southwest Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight A slight chance of thunderstorms is forecast today with lightning being the main threat. Rainfall across northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin may cause within bank rises on rivers. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Thunderstorms are possible Friday and Friday night, and periodically into next week. Organized severe weather is not expected. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... No action needed. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled. MNZ079-088-WIZ017-029-032>034-041>044-101200- Wabasha-Winona-Taylor-Clark-Buffalo-Trempealeau-Jackson-La Crosse- Monroe-Juneau-Adams- 400 AM CDT Thu May 9 2024 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast Minnesota...central Wisconsin...north central Wisconsin and west central Wisconsin. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Thunderstorms are possible Friday and Friday night, and periodically into next week. Organized severe weather is not expected. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... No action needed. .EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATION... No webinar is scheduled. Baumgardt
The La Crosse radar (KARX), 149 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:03 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple sources reported a very short lived non-supercell tornado south of Charles City, IA. Video footage showed a brief touchdown in an open field. No damage was observed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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