Alert archive / Wyoming / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Cheyenne, WY

July 8, 1988Carbon County, Wyoming

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1988, 2:08 PM MDT for Carbon County, Wyoming. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 1988, 2:08 PM MDT (20:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1988, 3:15 PM MDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Carbon 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 192 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 1988-07-08Temperature 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 1988-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -27 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
2138 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 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 082008
TORCYS
WYC007-082115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
208 PM MDT FRI JUL 8 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF WYOMING
      NORTH CENTRAL CARBON COUNTY

AT 203 PM MDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND NEAR THE KORTES
DAM...SOME 32 MILES NORTHEAST OF RAWLINS.  IT WAS SPOTTED BY A
SHERIFFS DEPUTY AS WELL AS A PILOT.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT
AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

DASELER

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

Local storm report, Jul 8, 8:29 AM MDT, 5 hours 39 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
828 AM MDT FRI JUL 8 1988

SELS MKC OMA A BFF

TIME         EVENT
3 40 PM MDT  JIM CUNNINGHAM...A BOX BUTTE COUNTY SPOTTER...STOPPED BY
JUN 29, 19881 THE WSMO OFFICE IN ALLIANCE NEBRASKA THURSDAY EVENING TO
             REPORT HE SAW A FUNNEL CLOUD 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALLIANCE
             AT APPROXIMATELY 340 PM MDT ON THE 29TH OF JUNE 1988.
ELSON
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 12:28 PM MDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1225 PM MDT FRI JUL 8 1988

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR SOUTHEAST WYOMING FROM 1 PM
   UNTIL 9 PM...

VERY MOIST AIR REMAINS OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON.  WITH PLENTY OF WARMING SUNSHINE THIS MORNING...AND A WEAK
UPPER LEVEL WEATHER FEATURE MOVING TOWARDS THE AREA...SOME STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ALREADY AT 1220 PM...SOME MODERATELY STRONG STORMS WERE DEVELOPING
OVER THE LARAMIE RANGE.  THEY WILL LIKELY GET STRONGER AS THEY MOVE
EAST AT ABOUT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN SOUTHEAST WYOMING SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION BY LISTENING TO THIS STATION.
<
IN ADDITION...SOME OF THE STORMS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...
WHICH WILL CAUSE SMALL STREAMS TO RISE AND FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS.
IF YOU ENCOUNTER RAPIDLY RISI|NG WATER...BE READY TO MOVE QUICKLY TO
HIGHER GROUND.

DASELER
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 1:56 PM MDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
156 PM MDT FRI JUL 8 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
   UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING...

AT 155 PM MDT...RADAR SHOWED NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE NEBRASKA
PANHANDLE.  HOWEVER...THUNDERSTORMS WERE FORMING IN EASTERN WYOMING
AND COLORADO.  MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

PEOPLE IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON SKY THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  PREPARE TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF A
THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES.  CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS STATION FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
ELSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 1:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSLaramie63 min
Jul 8, 2:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSAlbany63 min
Jul 8, 3:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSPlatte44 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.