Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Omaha, NE

May 30, 1987Butler County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT for Butler County, Nebraska. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1987, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Butler 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 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 65 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 1987-05-31Temperature 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 1987-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 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
3536 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 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 KLNK 310045
TORLNK
NEC023-310110-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 810 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...SOUTHERN BUTLER

AT 740 PM CDT NEBRASKA STATE PATROL REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR
DEWIGHT..WHICH IS ABOUT 21 MILES NORTH WEST OF LINCOLN.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.
*
IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

 OPTIONAL FREE FORMAT STATEMENT
 BROWN

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, 6:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK NE
625 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR BOONE...PLATTE AND COLFAX
   COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST NEBRASKA UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.....

THE TORNADO WARNING ISSUED FOR MADISON AND STANTON COUNTIES HAS EXPIRED
BUT VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE IN THE MADISON AND PIERCE
COUNTIES.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 10 MILES NORTH OF
PIERCE AND 7 MILES WEST OF PIERCE IN PIERCE COUNTY OR ABOUT 25 MILES
NORTHWEST OF NORFOLK.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE NORFOLK AREA AND
ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORFOLK.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER SO PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD
BE ALERT AND IF SEVERE WEATHER IS SPOTTED GO TO A PLACE OF SAFETY
IMMEDIATELY.
NO DAMAGE WAS REPORTED WITH TORNADO THAT TOUCHED DOWN BRIEFLY SOUTHWEST
OF MADISON.  MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT 612 PM CDT ABOUT 8 MILES
SOUTH OF BATTLE CREEK AND PEAS TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL FELL IN NORFOLK.
DIRCKSEN2329Z
Special weather statement, May 30, 6:57 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK NE
645 PM CDT SAT MAY 30 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR BOONE...PLATTE AND COLFAX
   COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST NEBRASKA UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.....

AT 645 PM CDT VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER NORTHEAST NEBR.
ABOUT 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF NORFOLK...6 MILES NORTHWEST OF NORFOLK AND
10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HARTINGTON IN EASTERN CEDAR COUNTY.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL
ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS OF AROUND 40 MPH.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST ABOUT 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE AREA OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE
POSSIBLITY OF SEVERE WEATHER AND IF SEVERE WEATHER IS SIGHTED PLEASE
MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IMMEDIATELY.  IF TIME PERMITS RELAY YOUR
REPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR
RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
<
IF A TORNAODO IS SIGHTED YOU SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER IF POSSIBLE
OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
DIRCKSEN2355

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCass, Sarpy18 min
May 30, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXDouglas, Sarpy34 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.