Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Hastings, NE

May 19, 1987Clay County, Hamilton County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1987, 7:19 PM CDT for Clay County, Hamilton County, Nebraska. It was in force for 26 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
May 19, 1987, 7:19 PM CDT (00:19 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clay County, NE, Hamilton 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
May 19, 7:30 PM CDTTornado F0Clay, NE
May 19, 7:35 PM CDTTornado F0Hamilton, 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 156 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 1987-05-20Temperature 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 1987-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
82 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 200019
TORGRI
NEC035-081-200045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
719 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...NORTHERN CLAY AND SOUTHERN HAMILTON

AT 715 PM A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR NEAR GLENVILLE AND
MOVING NORTHIAT 35 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT
IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

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

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, May 19, 5:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE GRAND ISLAND NE
540 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN AND EASTERN NEBRASKA AND
NORTHERN KANSAS UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT...

AT 540 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER SOUTHERN NEBRASKA
AND NORTHERN KANSAS.

THEY WERE MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE PLATTE RIVER FROM EAST OF NORTH
PLATTE TO COLUMBUS.  THE MAIN AREA WAS BETWEEN LEXINGTON AND KEARNEY AND
EXTENDED SOUTHEAST ACROSS HILDRITH..CAMPBELL..AND FRANKLIN TO CONCORDIA
KANSAS.  THUNDERSTORMS WITH INTENSE RAIN WERE JUST NORTH OF SMITH CENTER
KANSAS AND NORTHEAST OF FRANKLIN NEBRASKA.  ONE STORM WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN WAS JUST NORTHWEST OF CONCORDIA...AND ANOTHER WAS JUST SOUTHWEST OF
COLUMBUS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SPREADING TO THE NORTH AT 40MPH.
DER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDClay, Hamilton66 min
May 19, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHamilton22 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.