Alert archive / Nevada / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Reno, NV

June 20, 1988Pershing County, Washoe County, Nevada

NWS Reno, NV issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1988, 8:54 PM PDT for Pershing County, Washoe County, Nevada. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 20, 1988, 8:54 PM PDT (03:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1988, 9:30 PM PDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Reno, NV
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pershing County, NV, Washoe County, NV

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

Winnemucca Muni, NV (KWMC), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 111 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, Winnemucca Muni, NV at 00:00Z on 1988-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 46 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, Winnemucca Muni, NV at 00:00Z on 1988-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
46 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3097 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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 KRNO 210355
TORRNO
NVC027-031-210430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO NV
854 PM PDT MON JUN 20 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RENO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHWEST NEVADA
          ...WESTERN PERSHING
IN WEST NEVADA
          ...NORTHERN WASHOE
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED TO HAVE TOUCHED DOWN IN THE TOWN OF FERNLEY BY
A LYON COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPUTY AT 800 PM PDT. THE TORNADO DAMAGED
SEVERAL ROOFS...UPROOTED MANY TREES AND DOWNED POWER LINES. A FUNNEL
CLOUD WAS ALSO REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC NORTH OF RENO NEAR HALLELUJAH
JUNCTION AROUND 7 PM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED ON RADAR AND
SATELLITE PICTURES TO BE MOVING NORTH 25 TO 30 MPH.
 
PERSONS IN NORTHERN WASHOE COUNTY TOWNS OF GERLACH... EMPIRE AND
AROUND PYRAMID LAKE SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY AND SEEK SAFE
SHELTER IF A TORNADO IS SPOTTED.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO, THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE, SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS, PILLOWS, OR
CUSHIOdNS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO THIS STATION FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND
WARNINGS. WHEN YOU ARE SURE IT IS SAFE TO DO SO, RELAY REPORTS OF
SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL.

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 20, 5:00 PM PDT, 3 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RENO, NV
500 PM PDT MON JUN 20 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING INTO WESTERN NEVADA THIS EVENING...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA AND WEST
CENTRAL NEVADA THIS AFTERNOON.  THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING TO THE
NORTH AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR AND ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE
RENO-CARSON CITY AREA THIS EVENING.

THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY
RAIN AS THEY MOVE INTO THE AREA.  MOTORISTS TRAVELLING THROUGH WESTERN
NEVADA THIS EVENING SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE STRONG CROSSWINDS
AND VISIBILITIES REDUCED BY BLOWING DUST OR HEAVY RAIN.

BOATERS ON WESTERN NEVADAk LAKES AND LAKE TAHOE ARE ADVISED TO TAKE
SHELTER AS THUNDERSTORM WINDS COULD MAKE LAKE CONDITIONS QUITE ROUGH.

SCHULZ

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nevada, 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.