Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS North Platte, NE

June 13, 1988Cherry County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 13, 1988, 6:52 PM MDT for Cherry County, Nebraska. It was in force for 17 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jun 13, 1988, 6:52 PM MDT (00:52 UTC)
Expired: Jun 13, 1988, 7:09 PM MDT
In force: 17 min
Issued by: NWS North Platte, NE
Area: Whole counties

County Cherry 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, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 163 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 955 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1917 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 105 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 KBFF 140052
TORVTN
NEC031-140130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VALENTINE NE
ISSUED BY SCOTTSBLUFF NE
652 PM MDT MON JUN 13 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF NEBRASKA
      NORTHWEST CHERRY

AT 642PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES EAST
OF MERRIMAN NEBRASKA OR 60 MILES WEST OF VALENTINE. THIS INCLUDES
THE TOWN OF ELI. MOVEMENTWAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

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

AT 635PM MDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR MERRIMAN
NEBRASKA.

KOSEL

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, Jun 13, 5:20 PM MDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
620 PM CDT MON JUN 13 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA UNTIL MIDNIGHT
CDT THIS MONDAY EVENING...

AT 617 PM CDT A LARGE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED ACROSS
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA ON A LINE FROM NORTH PLATTE EXTENDING SOUTH TO
MCCOOK AND EXTENDING WEST FROM THIS LINE ABOUT 50 MILES.

MARBLE SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE NORTH PLATTE AREA ALONG
WITH ISOLATED REPORTS OF HEAVY RAIN.  NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN
REPORTED.

THIS AREA IS MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

MONSON

Special weather statement, Jun 13, 6:15 PM MDT, 37 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
715 PM CDT MON JUN 13 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA UNTIL MIDNIGHT
CDT THIS MONDAY EVENING...

AT 715 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA.
THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF BENKELMAN
IN DUNDY COUNTY OR ABOUT 51 MILES NORTH OF GOODLAND KANSAS AND
ANOTHER 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE IN LINCOLN COUNTY.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN SOME SMALL HAIL ALONG WITH BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN.

THE REMAINDER OF THE THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA CONTAIN ONLY LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN
HOUR.

MONSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 13, 6:06 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Cherry	39 min
Jun 13, 6:26 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Keith	34 min
Jun 13, 6:44 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Arthur	61 min
Jun 13, 8:03 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Cherry	57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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.