Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 5, NWS North Platte, NE

June 24, 1987Frontier County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 24, 1987, 3:38 PM CDT for Frontier County, Nebraska. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 24, 1987, 3:38 PM CDT (20:38 UTC)
Expired
Jun 24, 1987, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Frontier 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 12:00Z on 1987-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 549 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 1987-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 204 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
549 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-274 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
956 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
261 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBF 242038
TORLBF
NEC063-242130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
338 PM CDT WED JUN 24 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHERN FRONTIER

AT 330 PM CDT THE SHERIFF OFFICE REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10
MILES WEST OF MAYWOOD NEBRASKA MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...YOU SHOULD GO TO A
BASEMENT SHELTER IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
REINFORCED BUILDING.

REPORTS OF TORNADOS OR TORNADO DAMAGE SHOULD BE GIVEN TO A LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

MEYER 2037Z

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, Jun 24, 1:34 PM CDT, 2 hours 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
130 PM CDT WED JUN 24 1987

AT 120 PM CDT...WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
DEVELOPED OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE EAST OF A LINE FROM MCCOOK
NEBRASKA OR 60 MILES SOUTH OF NORTH PLATTE TO MULLEN NEBRASKA OR
55 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MULLEN NEBRASKA
AND WESTERN CUSTER COUNTY NEBRASKA.

COFFIN 241834
HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN DURING
THE EARLY MORNING HOURS.

MEYER
Special weather statement, Jun 24, 2:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
214 PM CDT WED JUN 24 1987

AT 210 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOPE OVER SOUTHWEST
AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE EAST OF A LINE FROM
20 MILES WEST OF IMPERIAL NEBRASKA TO 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF VALENTINE
NEBRASKA.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST OF NORTH
PLATTE NEBRASKA TO THE NORTH END OF THE LINE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH.

HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.

COFFIN 241916
Special weather statement, Jun 24, 3:23 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
320 PM CDT WED JUN 24 1987

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL NEBRASKA UNTIL
700 PM CDT...

A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHWEST
AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON.

AT 310 PM CDT A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM
NORTH CENTRAL CUSTER COUNTY OF CENTRAL NEBRASKA EXTENDING THROUGH
LINCOLN COUNTY INTO HAYES AND CHASE COUNTIES ALL OF SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS 10 MILES WEST OF WELLFLEET NEBRASKA IN SOUTH
CENTRAL LINCOLN COUNTY OR ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTH OF NORTH PLATTE NEBRASKA.
ALL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR TORNADO DEVELOPMENT.  PERSONS IN
SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMNTS AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 24, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFAntelope43 min
Jun 24, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFAntelope, Boone58 min
Jun 24, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFKnox58 min
Jun 24, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFMadison, Pierce32 min
Jun 24, 5:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFMadison, Pierce, Stanton, Wayne32 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.