Alert archive / Wyoming / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Cheyenne, WY

June 13, 1988Laramie County, Platte County, Wyoming

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Jun 13, 1988, 2:21 PM MDT for Laramie County, Platte County, Wyoming. It was in force for 39 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
Jun 13, 1988, 2:21 PM MDT (20:21 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 1988, 3:00 PM MDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Laramie County, WY, Platte County, WY

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
Jun 13, 2:40 PM MDTHail 1.25Platte, WY
Jun 13, 3:08 PM MDTTornado F0Platte, WY

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

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 246 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1988-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 318 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1988-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
318 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-236 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCYS 132021
TORCYS
WYC021-031-132100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
221 PM MDT MON JUN 13 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF WYOMING
      NORTHWEST LARAMIE COUNTY...SOUTHERN PLATTE COUNTY

AT 208 PM MDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 10 MILES SOUTH
OF CHUGWATER...OR 26 MILES NORTH OF CHEYENNE. THE THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF
NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.

WEILAND

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 13, 12:14 PM MDT, 2 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1215 PM MDT MON JUN 13 1988

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST
WYOMING UNTIL 700 PM MDT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER SOUTHEAST WYOMING AT
1210 PM.  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS ALSO FORMING JUST SOUTH OF
WYOMING...ALONG THE FRONT RANGE IN NORTHERN COLORADO.  ALL OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THE THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST WYOMING WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND
INTENSIFY DURING THE AFTERNOON.  SOME OF THE STORMS WILL PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

PEOPLE IN SOUTH&EAST WYOMING SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY FOR
THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS.  BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A SAFE PLACE
SHOULD A THUNDERSTORM APPROACH YOUR AREA.
HATTEN
Special weather statement, Jun 13, 1:05 PM MDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
105 PM MDT MON JUN 13 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE WESTERN THIRD OF THE NEBRASKA
   PANHANDLE UNTIL 7 PM MDT THIS EVENING...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR THE COUNTIES OF SIOUX...
SCOTTS BLUFF...BANNER AND KIMBALL OF THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE UNTIL
7 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

AT 100 PM MDT ISOLATED RAIN SHOWERS WERE IN THE NORTHERN NEBRASKA
PANHANDLE.  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT
RANGES OF COLORADO AND WYOMING.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT
25 MPH.

PEOPLE IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE SHOULD WATCH FOR THREATENING WEATHER
DEVELOPMENTS TODAY.  STAY TO TUNED TO RADIO...TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO
FOR LATER DEVELOPMENTS AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY
SHOULD A THUNDERSTORM APPROACH YOUR AREA.
ELSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 12:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSAlbany, Laramie, Platte68 min
Jun 13, 1:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSLaramie, Platte62 min
Jun 13, 2:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSGoshen56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wyoming, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988

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.