Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Hastings, NE

August 17, 1987Hall County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 1987, 7:51 PM CDT for Hall County, Nebraska. It was in force for 24 min. 2 reports 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
Aug 17, 1987, 7:51 PM CDT (00:51 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1987, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Hall 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
Aug 17, 8:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Hall, NE
Aug 17, 8:10 PM CDTTornado F1Hall, 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1987-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1987-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-176 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3367 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 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 KGRI 180051
TORGRI
NEC079-180115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
751 PM CDT MON AUG 17 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...NORTHERN HALL

AT 750 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHEASTERN
HALL COUNTY.  THIS WARNING DOES INCLUDE THE CITY OF GRAND ISLAND.
THE POSSIBLE TONADO WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY
TO SAVE YOUR LIVES.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE OPEN... TRY TO HIDE IN A DEPRESSION SUCH AS
A{ DITCH OR CULVERT.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF TORNADOES... LARGE HAIL... DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

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, Aug 17, 6:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
635 PM CDT MON AUG 17 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST GREELEY...
NORTHERN HOWARD...NORTHEAST SHERMAN...AND SOUTHEAST VALLEY COUNTY
UNTIL 7 PM CDT...

AT 6 35 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA
35 MILES NOTHWEST OF GRAND ISLAND AT THE JUNCTIONS OF GREELEY
SHERMAN..HOWARD AND VALLEY COUNTIES.  IT WAS MOVING TOWARD THE
EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND MY PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL.

OTHER THUNDERSHOWERS WERE SCATTERED FROM CENTRAL NEBRASKA INTO THE
NORTHEAST PART OF THE STATE AND IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA TO THE WEST
AND SOUTHWEST OF HOLDRE)DGE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHoward, Sherman51 min
Aug 17, 7:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHall, Hamilton, Merrick57 min
Aug 17, 7:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHoward57 min
Aug 17, 8:13 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDHamilton27 min
Aug 17, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHamilton27 min
Aug 17, 9:03 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDClay, Fillmore27 min
Aug 17, 9:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFillmore25 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.