Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Hastings, NE

May 30, 1987Polk County, York County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT for Polk County, York County, Nebraska. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1987, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Polk County, NE, York County, NE

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 12:00Z on 1987-05-30Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1987-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 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
3586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 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 302315
TORGRI
NEC143-185-302345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
615 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

CENTRAL NEBRASKA...SOUTHERN POLK AND NORTHERN YORK

AT 6:10 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC 30 MILES
EAST OF GRAND ISLAND...9 MILES NORTH OF YORK NEBRASKA MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 20 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.

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 30, 5:47 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NEBRASKA
530 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...

AT 530 PM CDT INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO PLAGUE PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS.

THE AREA WAS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST OF NORFOLK TO 25 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF AINSWORTH NEBRASKA EXTENDING SOUTH TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST
OF GRAND ISLAND TO 15 MILES SOUTH OF HOLDREDGE IN NEBRASKA AND SOUTH
TO 15 MILES EAST OF HILL CITY KANSAS.

HAIL...HIGH WINDS...AND HEAVY RAINS HAD BEEN REPORTED WITH THE
PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVED EAST AT 15 MPH.
JFD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHamilton, Merrick, Polk68 min
May 30, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo, Hall, Hamilton, Howard, Merrick60 min
May 30, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPolk60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.