Alert archive / Wyoming / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Cheyenne, WY

June 15, 1988Sweetwater County, Wyoming

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Jun 15, 1988, 4:41 PM MDT for Sweetwater County, Wyoming. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 15, 1988, 4:41 PM MDT (22:41 UTC)
Expired
Jun 15, 1988, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Sweetwater County, WY

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

Lander/Hunt Fiel, WY (KLND), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 130 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, Lander/Hunt Fiel, WY at 12:00Z on 1988-06-15Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lander/Hunt Fiel, WY at 12:00Z on 1988-06-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1461 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 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 KCYS 152241
TORCYS
WYC037-152315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
441 PM MDT WED JUN 15 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF WYOMING
      WESTERN SWEETWATER COUNTY

AT 430 PM MDT A PILOT REPORTED A TORNADO KICKING UP DUST AND
DEBRIS 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROCK SPRINGS. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING
TOWARDS THE EAST.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO
...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO STRUCTURE IS
NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

MENTZER

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 15, 2:24 PM MDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
220 PM MDT WED JUN 15 1988

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE EXTREME WEST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
   UNTIL 9PM MDT...

AT 215PM MDT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING ALONG THE LARAMIE
RANGE OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING EXTENDING FROM JUST SOUTH OF DOUGLAS TO
NORTHWEST OF CHEYENNE AND THEN INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO. MOVEMENT WAS
SLOWLY TO THE EAST.
KOSEL
Special weather statement, Jun 15, 4:10 PM MDT, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
410 PM MDT WED JUN 15 1988

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE EXTREME WEST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
   UNTIL 9PM MDT...

AT 405PM MDT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE APPROACHING THE SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE FROM SOUTHEAST WYOMING. THE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
FROM ABOUT 35 MILES WEST OF SCOTTSBLUFF TO 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
SCOTTSBLUFF OR 25 MILES WEST OF KIMBALL NEBRASKA. MOVEMENT WAS EAST
AT 10 MPH.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES WEST OF KIMBALL AND
MAY BE ACCOMPANYING BY BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND AND HAIL
AS IT MOVES INTO KIMBALL COUNTY OF THE SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
UNTIL 530PM] MDT.
KOSEL
Special weather statement, Jun 15, 4:14 PM MDT, 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
410 PM MDT WED JUN 15 1988

...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR ALBANY...CONVERSE...NIOBRARA...
   LARAMIE...PLATTE AND GOSHEN COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING UNTIL
   900 PM MDT THIS WEDNESDAY EVENING...

AT 408 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD JUST
DEVELOPED ABOUT 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF BURNS...OR 25 MILES EAST OF
CHEYENNE.  SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.

OTHER STRONG STORMS WERE SCATTERED ABOUT SOUTHEAST WYOMING.  THE
STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLwE
IN THESE COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THEATENING WEATHER
AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
COX
Special weather statement, Jun 15, 4:20 PM MDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
420 PM MDT WED JUN 15 1988

...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL
   WYOMING UNTIL 900 PM MDT TONIGHT...

AT 420 PM MDT NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED ACROSS SOUTHEAST
WYOMING. A STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED A FEW MILES NORTH OF BURNS...WHICH
IS 23 MILES EAST OF CHEYENNE. THIS STORM PRODUCED WIND GUSTS TO 40
MILES AN HOUR AND SMALL HAIL. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE
SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES
AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN SOUTHEAST AND
EAST CENTRAL WYOMING SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THEATENING WEATHER.
IF A TORNADO IS OBSERVED...SEEK REINFORCED SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

MENTZER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 15, 5:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSLaramie36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.