Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS North Platte, NE

May 17, 1988Frontier County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1988, 7:15 PM CDT for Frontier County, Nebraska. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1988, 7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1988, 7:40 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Frontier 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 1988-05-18Temperature 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1988-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 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 KLBF 180015
SVRLBF
NEC063-180115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
715 PM CDT TUE MAY 17 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF NEBRASKA
      NORTHWEST FRONTIER

AT 710 CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTH OF
MAYWOOD OR 26 MILES NORTH OF MCCOOK.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING
NORTH NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM...GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR STRONG DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY
HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE A
TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT!!

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
LARGE HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER...DEADLY LIGHTNING
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN THAT CAN FLOOD A LOW LYING AREA QUICKLY.

REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER OR DAMAGE CAN BE GIVEN TO A LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 17, 6:45 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
643 PM CDT TUE MAY 17 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA UNTIL
   11 PM CDT...

AT 635 PM CDT THIS TUESDAY EVENING VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING ACROSS RED WILLOW COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THE
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF MCCOOK NEBRASKA.
HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED AT MCCOOK AT 622 PM CDT.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

SMALLFIELD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 8:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCuster34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 1988Every severe thunderstorm 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.