Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Omaha, NE

April 26, 1986Burt County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1986, 6:42 PM CST for Burt County, Nebraska. It was in force for 33 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 1986, 6:42 PM CST (00:42 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1986, 7:15 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Burt County, NE

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 26, 7:00 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Burt, NE

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 59 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1986-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1986-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 155 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
291 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KOMA 270042
TOROMA
NEC021-053-177-270115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
642 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA...SOUTHERN BURT...EASTERN DODGE AND NORTHWEST 
 WASHINGTON

AT 640 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR HOOPER NEBRASKA..
38 MILES NORTHWEST OF OMAHA.  THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ASSOCIATED WITH
THIS POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.

DAMAGE REPORTS OR OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD BE GIVEN TO A LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
ISSUED AT 616 PM CST FOR WASHINGTON..AND EASTERN DODGE COUNTIES.

BYRD

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 26, 4:23 PM CST, 2 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK NE
415 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST FOR PART OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN
NEBRASKA..A SMALL PART OF SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA..AND PART OF EXTREME
WESTERN IOWA.

AT 415 PM CST VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHEAST NEBRASKA.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR COLUMBUS AND 45 MILES NORTHWEST
OF NORFOLK NEAR LINDY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST} AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE
ACCOMPANIED BY VERY HEAVY RAIN..WIND GUST TO AROUND 50 MPH..AND POSSIBLY
HAIL.

NEWMAN 2222Z
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 4:40 PM CST, 2 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
440 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

...WEATHER ADVISORY FOR LIVESTOCK PANHANDLE AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
   TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...

A STORM SYSTEM IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG
A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT TONIGHT.  THE FRONT LIES FROM MINNESOTA TO NEW
MEXICO.  THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING RAIN TO WESTERN NEBRASKA TONIGHT.   SNOW
IS LIKELY TO BE MIXED IN IN NORTHWEST NEBRASKA INTO SUNDAY MORNING.

TEMPERATURES IN NORTHWEST NEBRASKA TONIGHT WILL BE IN THE 30S WITH NORTH
WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH.  THE COLD RAIN..WET SNOW AND WINDS ARE LIKELY TO
CAUSE STRESS FOR YOUNG LIVESTOCK TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING.
TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RECOVER INTO THE 40S AND POSSIBLY 50S
SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

WHILE MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION ACROSS NEBRASKA WILL BE RAIN SNOW COULD
ACCUMULATE A COUPLE OF INCHES DEEP TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING IN THE
HIGHERQ ELEVATIONS OF THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE.

POWERS
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 4:50 PM CST, 1 hour 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
450 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN NEBRASKA THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON...

AT 450 PM CST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN EEATERN NEBRASKA FROM NEAR
PILGER ABOUT 70 MILES NORTHWEST OF OMAHA SOUTHWEST TO JUST WEST OF
COLUMBUS NEBRASKA AND FURTHER SOUTH TO WEST OF YORK NEBRAKA.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 35 MILES PER HOUR AND ARE
EXPECTED TO PASS BY OMAHA WELL TO THE WEST.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING INTO NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND HAVE
GENERATED LARGE HAIL AND SOME STRONG WINDS AND COULD GENERATE
TORNADOES.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA UNTIL 9 PM CST.
NONE OF THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY APPEARS LIKELY TO THREATEN THE
OMAHA COUNCIL BLUFFS METROPOLITAN AREA BEFORE 6 PM CST.

POWERS
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 5:50 PM CST, 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
550 PM CST SAT APR 26 1986

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 111 IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA/WESTERN
   IOWA UNTIL 9PM CST...

AT 550 PM CST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN EASTERN NEBRASKA FROM NORTH
EAST OF NORFOLK..WHERE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HIT AROUND 510 PM CST...
SOUTH TO JUST EAST OF COLUMBUS..THEN SOUTHWEST TOWARD GRAND ISLAND.

AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING INTO WESTERN DODGE COUNTY..55 MILES
NORTHWEST OF OMAHA.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE UP TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL
AND STRONG WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 45 MPH AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST AT 30
MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA UNTIL 9 PM CST.
THUNDERSTORMS.  THUNDNERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH IN THE OMAHA/COUNCIL
BLUFFS AREA BETWEEN 6 AND 7PM CST.
BYRD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 6:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXDodge, Washington59 min
Apr 26, 6:42 PM CSTTornado WarningOAXDodge, Washington18 min
Apr 26, 7:04 PM CSTTornado WarningOAXJefferson, Saline26 min
Apr 26, 7:31 PM CSTTornado WarningOAXSaline29 min
Apr 26, 8:28 PM CSTTornado WarningOAXLancaster32 min
Apr 26, 8:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCass, Sarpy, Saunders55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.