Alert archive / Nebraska / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS North Platte, NE

August 12, 1988Red Willow County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this flash flood warning at Aug 12, 1988, 11:35 PM CDT for Red Willow County, Nebraska. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1988, 11:35 PM CDT (04:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 1988, 2:30 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Red Willow 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 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2097 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1988-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 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
2097 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
989 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBF 130435
FFWLBF
NEC145-130730-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
1135 PM CDT FRI AUG 12 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF NEBRASKA
      RED-WILLOW

AT 1130 PM CDT FLASH FLOODING REPORTED BY THE MCCOOK POLICE
DEPARTMENT. OVER THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLING AND STILL
RAINING HARD. THE REPUBLICAN RIVER WAS FLOODING SOUTH OF TOWN
IN THE PARK AND OTHER STREETS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS IMMINENT.
MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.
ON FOOT...NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL ONE.
TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN RELATION TO STREAMS...
RIVERS...OR CREEKS THAT CAN BECOME DEADLY WHEN SWOLLEN BY HEAVY
RAIN.  CAMPERS SHOULD AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS WHEN
HEAVY RAIN THREATENS.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE OVER ROADS COVERED BY FLOOD WATERS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THEN DANGERS OF FLOOD WATERS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED...
ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Aug 12, 5:39 PM CDT, 5 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
538 PM CDT FRI AUG 12 1988

AT 535 PM CDT AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM AREA WAS OVER MUCH OF SOUTHWEST
PORTION OF NEBRASKA...THE STRONG STORM WAS 20 MILES SOUTH OF NORTH PLATTE
NEBRASKA. THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL
HAIL...THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS 35 MILES WEST OF NORTH PLATTE...MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH6.

THE STORM WILL BE IN THE NORTH PLATTE AREA BETWEEN 6 PM AND 7 PM CDT THIS
FRIDAY EVEING.

HORN

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Nebraska, 1988Every flash flood warning 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.