Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 2, NWS North Platte, NE

May 20, 1988Cedar County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 20, 1988, 3:53 PM CDT for Cedar County, Nebraska. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 1988, 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1988, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Cedar County, NE

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 20, 4:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Cedar, NE

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1988-05-20Temperature 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1988-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 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
3586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 KOFK 202053
TOROFK
NEC027-202130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORFOLK NE
353 PM CDT FRI MAY 20 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF NEBRASKA
      NORTHERN CEDAR

AT 3:50 PM CDT NORFOLK RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST
WEST OF HARTINGTON...OR 40 MILES NORTHNORTHWEST OF NORFOLK.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

ACT QUICKLY.  TAKE SHELTER IN THE INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO A BASEMENT IF POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DE
BRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS OR
PILLOWS.

 MILLER

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.