Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 10, NWS North Platte, NE

August 3, 1988Lincoln County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 1988, 4:25 PM CDT for Lincoln County, Nebraska. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 3, 1988, 4:25 PM CDT (21:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1988, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Lincoln 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 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 15 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 12:00Z on 1988-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2040 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1988-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
2040 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-225 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1245 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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 032125 RRA
TORLBF
NEC111-032215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
425 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

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

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF NEBRASKA
      WESTERN LINCOLN

AT 422 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY PERSONNEL OF THE PUBLIC
POWER PLANT NEAR SUTHERLAND MOVING NORTHEAST.  THIS WOULD BE ABOUT
20 MILES WEST OF NORTH PLATTE.  THIS INCLUDES THE COMMUNITY OF
SUTHERLAND.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES...TAKE
COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 9 PM CDT...

 MONSON  2124Z

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, Aug 3, 1:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VALENTINE NE
135 AM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

...SERVER THUNDERSTORM WARMING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTILL 205 PM CDT FOR
EASTERN CHERRY COUNTY OF NORTHCENTRAL NEBRASKA...

AT 125 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SERVER THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF MERRITT
RESERVOIR MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

MERRITT RESERVOIR TRADING POST REPORTED RECEIVING 11/4 INCH HAIL
(GULFBALL SIZE) FROM 110 PM TO 125 PM CDT.

THIS S!TORM IS HEADING FOR THE VALENTINE AREA...PERSONS IN THE PATH OF
THIS STORM AND RESIDENTS OF VALENTINE SHOULD SEEK SHELTER NOW.

RODDA
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 2:15 PM CDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VALENTINE NE
210 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARMING WAS ALLOWED TO EXPIRED AT 205 PM CDT
FOR EASTERN CHERRY COUNTY OF NORTHCENTRAL NEBRASKA...

AT 205 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THAT THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WERE
OVER EASTERN CHERRY COUNTY OF NORTHCENTRAL NEBRASKA HAD DECREASED IN
INTENSITY.  THERE IS A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTHEAST CORNER OF
CHERRY COUNTY TO 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF VALENTINE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS
ARE MOVING EASTNORTHEAST AT 25 MILE AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS STILL CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD STAY ALART TO THE
CHANGING WEATHE`R CONDITIONS THAT COULD OCCURE.

RODDA
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 4:10 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VALENTINE NE
405 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARMING FOR EASTERN CHERRY COUNTY OF
NORTHCENTRAL NEBRASKA HAS BEEN CANCELED...HOWEVER A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST NEBRASKA UNTIL 9 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

AT 450 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THAT THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT WERE
OVER EASTERN CHERRY COUNTY OF NORTHCENTRAL NEBRASKA HAD DECREASED IN
INTENSITY.  SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE THROUGHOUT ALL OF CHERRY
COUNTY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD REDEVELOP LATER THIS EVENING.

PERSONS IN CHERRY COUNTY SHOULD STAY ALART TO CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS THAT COULD OCCURE.

RODDA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 1:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry60 min
Aug 3, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFGrant69 min
Aug 3, 2:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFKeya Paha41 min
Aug 3, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFThomas58 min
Aug 3, 3:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry60 min
Aug 3, 3:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFKeith64 min
Aug 3, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBrown, Keya Paha42 min
Aug 3, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBoyd, Holt58 min
Aug 3, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFRock23 min
Aug 3, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 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.